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Greg Bird of the Gold Coast Titans - Source: Getty -
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Enforcer Greg Bird doesn't need anyone fighting his battles but Titans coach John Cartwright felt the need to defend the club's big name recruit following his error-filled debut.
Bird made five errors with the ball and missed three tackles according to the NRL's match stats and he was furious with himself even though the Titans won 24-18 over the Warriors on Sunday in his first competition match for the club.
Bird - who's had a harrowing 18 months on and off the field - refused all interview requests after the match and he was still not talking to the media on Monday at the team's recovery session as Cartwright sprung to his defence.
"You pretty well couldn't talk to him after the game," said Cartwright who was delighted by Bird's reaction to his game.
"It was a sign he wasn't happy with himself, but I was smiling.
"What he brought to us was something we haven't had in three years here.
"Every time he did make a mistake he more than made up for it with his aggression and just that will to win.
"He wants to win every little battle he's in and I could see that rubbing off on other players yesterday, and that quite excited me actually."
Cartwright felt Bird may have been the victim of some extra attention from the referees.
"No doubt. They'll do their reviews this morning and I think they'll see he got penalised once when he shouldn't have been. He got done for a dropped ball which he should have received a penalty for and he also got put into a dangerous situation.
"They do their homework on players and sometimes they go in there with some preconceived ideas."
Of more immediate concern was the health of livewire fullback Preston Campbell who copped a knee to the top of his head in the closing minutes.
Doctors will decide in the next 24 hours if Campbell, who has a history of head knocks, is passed fit to play against Souths at ANZ Stadium on Friday night.
The little dynamo was still a touch groggy after an early morning swim in the surf with teammates on Monday.
"I'm still feeling a bit out of sorts, I had a pretty restless sleep last night and I didn't know whether I was going to be sick or not," he said.
"I'm just hoping to get home today and have a bit of a sleep and wake up a bit better tomorrow.
"There's no need for scans, the doc's checked me out and he says I'm fine but it's his decision, whatever he says goes, I'm not going to argue with him.
"I take these things seriously, I've had trouble in the past
with head knocks and I know what it can end up like."
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