2008 Idris played for the Canterbury-Bankstown
NYC team in 2008. He made his first grade debut for the
Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs in Round 24 against arch-rivals the
Parramatta Eels at
ANZ Stadium at in the Bulldogs 26–12 loss. In his third NRL match in Round 26 against the
Canberra Raiders, Idris scored his first NRL career try in the 52–34 loss at
Canberra Stadium. Idris finished his debut year in the NRL with 3 matches and one try. He played at in the
2008 World Cup curtain opener match for the
Indigenous Dreamtime team against the
New Zealand Māori rugby league team in the Dreamtime side's 34–26 win.
2009 In March, Idris was involved in a fight with Canterbury teammate
Ben Barba. Idris allegedly left Barba with a bleeding nose after he held Canterbury teammate
Lee Te Maari against a wall at the
Wentworthville Hotel carpark, resulting in Idris being suspended for one week. Idris performances early in the 2009 season prompted dual international
Wendell Sailor to say: "What Jamal's doing at the moment, I think it's a lot better than what Izzy (
Israel Folau) was doing at the same age." On 8 September, he was named
Dally M Rookie of the Year Idris played in 20 matches and scored 7 tries for
Canterbury-Bankstown for the year.
2010 Idris scored two tries in Canterbury's 60–14 win over the
Sydney Roosters in round 3, and a month later had a man of the match performance in Round 7 against the
Brisbane Broncos. Idris was rewarded with a spot in the
NSW Country Origin team. After a strong performance for Country, including a try in the 36–18 win over
City Origin, he was named on the interchange bench for the
New South Wales State of Origin team for Game I of the
2010 series scoring a try in the 28–24 loss. Idris was dropped for the second match but was named the 18th man. In September, he was named in the train-on squad for
Australia in the
2010 Four Nations tournament, but didn't make the final 24-man squad. Idris finished the
season with 22 matches and 10 tries. On 29 September, Idris was the victim of an attack by his cousin while in
Forster for a family reunion. His 20-year-old cousin, Beau Currie, later pleaded guilty to striking Idris' neck with a samurai sword and was sentenced to 18 months in jail with a non-parole period of 14 months. Idris was not seriously injured and made a return to the Bulldogs for the start of the 2011 NRL season.
2011 Early into the
2011 NRL season, Idris was rumoured to have received contract offers from the
Newcastle Knights and
Gold Coast Titans. On 12 April, Idris signed a five-year deal with the Gold Coast Titans, starting from 2012. Weeks later, Idris was selected for
Australia, debuting against
New Zealand in the
2011 ANZAC Test playing off the interchange bench and scoring a try in the Kangaroos 20–10 win at
Cbus Super Stadium. Idris played in 23 matches and scored 6 tries his last year with Canterbury-Bankstown
2012 In round 1 against the
North Queensland Cowboys, Idris made his club debut for the
Gold Coast, scoring the opening try for the Titans season. Idris scored two tries in the Titans 18–0 win at
1300SMILES Stadium. Due to form and injury, Idris saw one of his less effective seasons to date. After consecutive years of making representative football, Idris didn't see a representative jumper in 2012. He finished the year with 5 tries from 20 matches.
2013 Idris played at
NSW Country Origin side in their 18–12 win over NSW City. He suffered a season-ending hamstring injury in Round 16 against the
Newcastle Knights. Idris played in 15 matches and scored 4 tries for the Gold Coast. At the end of the season Idris was involved in talks with the
Penrith Panthers as he sought a return to Sydney on compassionate grounds to be closer to his family.
2014 On 7 January, the
Penrith Panthers signed Idris on a three-year deal. In a return deal, the Penrith club released
Brad Tighe from the final two years of his contract to join the Gold Coast. After missing round 1 with a hamstring strain, Idris made his club debut for the Panthers in the round 18–17 loss against the
Melbourne Storm at
AAMI Park. Idris was again selected for
NSW Country Origin side, scoring a try and was awarded Man of the Match in the 26–26 all draw. On 29 May, Idris was stood down by the Penrith club to seek help with personal issues, including depression and alcohol abuse, after he failed to report back to training following a four-day road trip to the
Gold Coast. On 23 June, he returned to the Panthers
NSW Cup team, putting in a solid performance in the 32–28 win. Idris returned to the Panthers first grade squad in Round 16. In Round 17 against the
Wests Tigers at
Leichhardt Oval, Idris scored his first try in Penrith colours on his 24th birthday in the club's 26–10 win. Idris finished his first year with Penrith scoring 4 tries from 22 matches.
2015–16 At the end of 2015, Idris took a break from his sporting career. In 2016, he temporarily left rugby league and took a trip around the world, in which he visited Europe and India, opened an orphanage in
Ghana and joined
Group 3 Rugby League club
Wingham Tigers.
2017 On 27 October 2016, Idris signed a one-year deal with the
Wests Tigers after one-year break from the
NRL. Lacking recent experience, he played the opening games of the season from the bench, playing at centre when he took the field. In round 5, he made his debut in the starting side. On 9 May 2017, it was revealed that Idris would be ruled out for the season with a ruptured ACL Injury which he suffered at training. On 19 October 2017, Idris announced on social media that he would be retiring due to injury, after 136 games across 4 different clubs. == After retirement ==