No Xmas behaviour warning for Titans

Gold Coast coach Neil Henry sees no need to put his players on notice over their Christmas break despite two off-field incidents that have marred the Titans’ NRL pre-season.

Co-captain Greg Bird faces a heavy fine and the prospect of losing his leadership role after he was issued with an infringement notice for offensive behaviour for urinating in public on Monday morning, the day after his wedding.

The NSW State of Origin star will face the Titans’ disciplinary committee on Thursday.

Bird’s indiscretion came weeks after young flyer James Roberts was arrested in late October following a boozy night out.

Charges of public nuisance and obstruction against Roberts were subsequently dropped in a Gold Coast court on Wednesday.

Despite the unwanted distractions, Henry says he won’t be reminding players of their expected behaviour before the squad breaks up for Christmas at the end of next week.

“I don’t think you need to,” he said.

“It goes without saying that you’re expected to behave all the time. They’ll have a bit of downtime with family and friends … they know the rules within our organisation and are familiar with it.”

Henry admitted the Bird saga would have been a minor distraction to his squad but he stood behind 21-year-old Roberts.

The speedy outside back only joined the Titans earlier this year after being sacked by both South Sydney and Penrith for repeated off-field indiscretions.

Henry said he was always confident Roberts wouldn’t have a case to answer and was happy to let him return to focusing on playing league.

“We know that he has had a few indiscretions so far in his career but he’s certainly made a real effort off the field and behind the scenes to get his life in order,” he said.

“This was certainly a little step backwards from what he’s been able to achieve but finally it’s over, it’s settled and he can get on with playing.”

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