Gold Coast enforcer Greg Bird admits it will be hard to change his tackling technique as he prepares to return from an eight-week NRL ban for a dangerous throw on Saturday.

The NSW forward admitted he had to reassess his defence after missing the entire State of Origin series following his tackle on New Zealand winger Jason Nightingale in early May’s trans-Tasman Test in Brisbane.

“It is hard but that is the way the game is going,” the 229-game NRL veteran said of changing his tackling technique ahead of the Titans’ away clash at Newcastle.

“Every week you see someone get done on a lifting tackle but lifting tackles aren’t intentional…they are accidents.”