Greg Bird claimed a handful of Jamal Idris’ precious locks the last time the pair crossed paths.

Idris is again wary of Bird as the centre prepares to play Gold Coast for the first time since switching to Penrith during the pre-season.

“I remember in 2011,” Idris said when the then-Bulldog faced Bird, “a week out before the game, [Bird] goes ‘Jam I'm going to pull every dread out of your head’.

“I started laughing and sure enough, in the middle of the game, he actually did. I looked up and said to the ref ‘he's pulling my hair’ and he [Bird] goes ‘stop being a sook’. I just clicked. Second half we came out and I just thought to myself I'm going to flog him no matter what. They threw a ball, I didn't know if it was going to him or not but I hit him with everything I’ve got. He got it, but he hit the deck and I just felt the wind go out of him.

"After the game, he sends me a message and it goes, ‘man, I'm coughing up blood’, so I was like, ‘mate, if you wanna go pulling dreads I am going to go hitting ribs’.

“I don't think he will pull them, but he is a smart-arse so he might.”

Idris made a shock switch to Penrith in January, quitting the Titans after two seasons with three years remaining on a lucrative deal.

After a disjointed stint at the Gold Coast, Idris moved to Sydney to be closer to his family and joined the Panthers for three years.

He has since rediscovered the form that saw him make one-off appearances for NSW and Australia.

“This is the only game where I knew who we were playing against,” Idris said. “Most of the time I get midway through the week and I have to ask who we are playing.

“You always play your best footy against your mates. My problem is I don’t want to overdo it and go out too hard.

“The main change is I'm playing on the left. I'm trying to switch up which hand I carry the ball in and little things like that. I take a lot more carries coming out of yardage, trying to get involved a lot more.

"I was nine months out of the game, I was real unsure where my fitness levels would be, but it's like riding a bike – I just got straight back into it.”

Injuries restricted Idris to 15 appearances last year for the Gold Coast.

His former club have had an impressive start to the season, sitting on top of the premiership ladder with five wins.

Idris said the inclusion of former Cowboys coach Neil Henry to assist Titans coach John Cartwright had been a significant factor in the side’s improvement after they had missed the finals in the past three seasons.

“Neil Henry came in and threw a massive curve ball,” Idris said. “The way they have been playing isn’t the way they used to play; they are a completely different team, especially in the forwards. We used to make wide shifts and try and make metres on the edges. Now they just charge through the middle and utilise their forward pack.”