After all, he's heard it all before.

''They'll give it to me, there's no doubt about that,'' Barrett said of the reception he was expecting from the St George Illawarra faithful on Sunday afternoon.

''But I've had that before. They used to give it to me when I played for them, so it's going to be no different.''

Sunday's match-up between the Dragons and the Sharks is so much more than a former player going up against his old club.

Barrett was the Dragons. During his 11 years with the club the first three with the Illawarra Steelers and the final eight with the joint venture Barrett was the face of the club.

He was their skipper, their key playmaker, their spokesman.

But he was also the easy target, with the classy five-eighth often painted as the scapegoat for the Dragons' lack of premiership success.

Even Barrett admits he should have won at least one premiership in the red and white, either in the heartbreaking decider of 1999 or in 2005, when the Dragons roster was the envy of every other club in the competition.

It wasn't to be however, and after two years with Wigan in the Super League, Barrett says he has no regrets about his move to the Dragons' most bitter rival.

''I thought about [coming back to the Dragons], and there was an opportunity to go back there, but I think once you leave a place and move on, I would have been going back for the wrong reasons, probably going back for my mates I guess,'' he said.

''I'm really happy with the decision I made, I'm happy here, we've got a good club and a good coach and I think I've fitted in well so there's certainly no regrets.

''It won't be really weird [playing against the Dragons], lots of players play against their old club so it's not anything new.

''But being there for so long I suppose and turning up at Kogarah and seeing so many familiar faces I suppose.

''... It's something that doesn't daunt me, I'm looking forward to going back there.''

Injury and suspension woes won't help the Sharks' cause, and neither will the influence of new Dragons coach Wayne Bennett.' AAP