Navale scored a try with his third touch against Newcastle on Saturday, six months after rupturing his ACL in a final training session before pre-season trials.
His Sea Eagles comeback came after just one game in NSW Cup, taking the 23-year-old from the heartache of an ACL rupture to playing again in just 186 days.
"It does kind of give me a bit of pride with the way it's all played out," Navale told AAP.
"Obviously ACL is a big scary term. I thought I was done, this season would be a write-off and best case was starting pre-season at the end of the year.
"Everything had been lining up perfectly and I was ready to rip into the trials. Then for it to happen that way in the last session, it was devastating."
Navale's return was the quickest since David Kidwell for South Sydney in 2007, according to respected physiotherapist Brian Seeney on his NRL Physio page.
The World Cup with Fiji is also now in his sights, having set himself that goal in 2022.
Navale has had players from other teams reach out, asking for advice on his return.
The lock believes part of it was luck, given he did not tear his medial ligament or any other tendons. He also believes genetics and being only 23 helped.
A message to never take anything for granted also drove him, with his father Eparama having spent years ruing mistakes in his own career.
A Fijian rugby sevens representative, Eparama was brought to Australia as a youngster and played 17 games for Parramatta and the Northern Eagles.
"He made a couple of mistakes and still wishes he did things different," Navale said.
"He never had guidance outside of footy. He made the wrong decisions. He was straight out of Fiji without his parents and didnt't realise he could set himself up.
"Ever since I've been young, he's always reminded me that I have to take these opportunities and not take it for granted like he did.
"Because before you know it you can let it slip. He and mum have just drilled that into me."
It was a message not lost in the past six months.
"You can get a bit in your head sometimes, feeling sorry for yourself," Navale said.
"But they would say some people do their ACL playing club footy, and they miss work and footy.
"They were just telling me how lucky I am that this is my full-time job and I have that support. It put things into perspective."
On Saturday, Navale got his reward by scoring in Manly's 42-24 win.
"It almost felt too good to be true," he said.
"It was like a fairytale-type thing, scoring in front of a packed crowd. It literally couldn't get any better."
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