Bird confident of Titans’ NRL survival

Greg Bird admits the ongoing saga surrounding the Gold Coast Titans has caused some concern amongst the players, but the NSW star is confident the embattled NRL club will survive.

The Titans had looked to have alleviated their financial woes, which are in the region of $25 million, with an agreement struck last month to sell their ill-fated Centre of Excellence at Robina.

On Thursday under-fire chief executive Michael Searle put the property arm of the business into voluntary administration in a move he said would help creditors receive a greater return on money owed to them.

Despite their huge debts, the Titans have continued to make big-money signings with South Sydney’s representative forward David Taylor agreeing a lucrative deal for the start of the 2013 season last month.

Bird said payments to the players have all been met, and they’ve been continuously updated about the situation by Searle and other club powerbrokers.

“We haven’t been shielded away from what’s going on, we’ve gone into training and worked hard and that would be the same if the scandal was going on or it wasn’t,” Bird told AAP.

“The boys have spoken about what is going on but I don’t think it’s a factor for our poor start to the season.

“The club has told us right from the start about what exactly is happening and we’re comfortable that it’s the truth.”

However, the former Cronulla star said the uncertainty coupled with the team’s poor start to the season, which has yielded just two victories from seven matches, haven’t helped morale, making last week’s shock win over premiers Manly all the more special.

“There’s a lot of stories and rumours out there and we’ve been told right from the start what the go is and we have to be confident in the people above us,” he said.

“Going out and beating the premiers gives you massive confidence. And although they were a bit under-done, we’re still very happy with the performance and the fact we were able to go out there and get the job done.”

Stay up to date with the latest sports news
Follow our social accounts to get exclusive content and all the latest sporting news!