After arriving on the Gold Coast as NRL bad boys, Nate Myles and Greg Bird will forever be in debt to outgoing coach John Cartwright.

Bird was happy to play out his days in relative obscurity in France following his dramatic dumping by Cronulla in 2008.

The Sharks had cut ties with the back-rower after he was charged by police following an incident with his girlfriend in which he was accused of smashing a glass in her face.

After being acquitted in 2009, Cartwright and Titans’ founder Michael Searle convinced Bird to return to Australia and rebuild his shattered reputation.

Since then, he has gone on to regain both his NSW State of Origin and Australian Test jumpers and been named as one of the Titans’ co-captains along with Myles.

“I definitely wouldn’t be in the NRL, to be honest, if it wasn’t for Searley and Carty,” Bird said.

“I went through my dramas and I was quite happy to stay in France and play out the rest of my years over there. Carty gave me the opportunity to come back and be on the Gold Coast, away from the hustle and bustle of Sydney. I’m very, very grateful to the two men for giving me that opportunity.”

Myles, too, has lots to thank Cartwright and Searle for.

Always a valuable asset on the field, the Queensland Origin star endured his share of off-field dramas during his seven seasons in Sydney with Canterbury and the Sydney Roosters.

He says his time with the Titans has been the best of his career and it has a lot to do with Cartwright and Searle.

“The last three years, I’ve probably enjoyed my football the most and that’s bouncing off the back of what Carty and Searley have provided for myself and a couple of other guys,” he said.

“I’m forever indebted to them. It’s disappointing that it can’t go any further in the club together. I’ll be disappointed with that but thank them a lot for it.”