At least we know becoming a father won't soften Greg Bird. The former Sharks forward was public enemy No.1 in a cliffhanger at Southern Cross Group Stadium on Sunday, and that is just the way he likes it. "It was an eventful afternoon," he said cheekily.
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Sharks seal points in thriller
Cronulla's Valentine Holmes has sealed a sometimes spiteful encounter against Gold Coast.
Between a bellringer that left him on report and James Maloney in Disneyland, a running battle with Michael Ennis and a hammering of Ben Barba that displeased Cronulla, this was the feisty Bird that Sharks fans had come to know and love over eight years here.
"I'm just disappointed we didn't get the win," Bird said as Cronulla moved into fourth place after sealing a cliffhanger via a diving Valentine Holmes try with nine minutes on the clock. "It would have been good after the week I've had. I haven't had much sleep."Â
The reason for that is Bird's daughter Finley was born on Wednesday but any suggestion of the 31-year-old mellowing out as a result of that was blown away.
Maloney didn't feature again after being floored in the 17th minute but was in good enough spirits later to laugh about the tackle with Bird, who he didn't accuse of any illegality.
"It is what it is, you need to wear them sometimes," Maloney said. "I like the way he plays. It's just a shame to be on the wrong end of it."
Bird, whose selection for next month's Test against New Zealand would be in jeopardy with a suspension, had a similar view of it.
"He's a good ball player and he takes the ball right into the line so every ball player knows they're at a risk when they do that," the Titans lock said.Â
"The defence have got a right to combat that. You can't just have halves running wild and doing what they want on the field. I don't think I hit him high. He might have got a bit of whiplash in the neck."
Maloney wasn't the only one to have their afternoons ended prematurely due to concussion. Teammate Luke Lewis, also a new dad last week, and Titans interchange half Daniel Mortimer suffered the same fate. In Maloney's case, he seemed to be collateral damage from a dispute between Bird and another noted antagonist Ennis that had begun two minutes earlier. At one point, he tried to rip the Cronulla hooker's headgear off.Â
Bird later said he had been fired up by Ennis's antics – the former NSW Origin No.9 had tried to lift his shaken opposite number Nathan Friend off the ground before he, too, was taken off for a concussion test – but "no more than usual".
"Micky's a competitor," Bird said. "I've been playing with him and against him since I was about 14 or 15 so I know what he's like. I knew what to expect. I didn't lose control at any stage."
Also on the end of Bird's rampage was Barba, who was flattened as he caught a high kick later in the day. Bird's conduct was deemed legal this time but, as a winded Barba writhed on the ground, the Sharks weren't pleased.
"The intent was there to hurt him," Sharks forward Wade Graham told the referee. Cronulla coach Shane Flanagan later complained that Barba had only one foot on the grass.
​The Sharks would have the last laugh but it was still hard to wipe the smile off Bird's face after a life-changing past four days.
"I was lucky enough my missus is still in hospital and I got an away trip," he said. "It was the first good night's sleep I had all week. I wasn't thinking about my little girl on the field today. I had bigger and uglier things to think about with [Paul] Gallen and [Andrew] Fifita running at me. Hopefully, she takes after her mother."
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