Barrett's much anticipated return to his old home ground ended worryingly when he suffered the injury during the Sharks' 10-6 NRL loss to St George Illawarra.

The former Dragons skipper was attempting a tackle on St George Illawarra forward Ben Creagh in the 50th minute when Barrett's neck was bent awkwardly by his own player, Blake Ferguson.

The match was stopped for more than five minutes as medical staff placed his neck in a brace before carrying him off to a standing ovation from the 20,847 fans who had earlier booed his return in enemy colours.

Barrett complained of pins and needles in his right arm and leg before being taken to hospital.

He underwent tests and could be back in action in 1-2 weeks.

''It's all been good news,'' Sharks doctor David Givney said last night.

''The CT and MRI scans have come back normal. There's no boney or ligamentous injury and symptoms [are] slowly resolving.

''He'll be released either tonight or tomorrow morning and then we'll assess his injuries.''

Barrett's release will depend more on his recovery from the side effects of pain-killing drugs than his injury.

It had been feared the former Test star may have suffered the same career-threatening injury that ended teammate Ben Ross' season.

Ross suffered a ruptured disc that was pushing against his spinal column and underwent surgery. AAP