Greg Bird (born 10 February 1984) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s and 2010s. He played as a or for Australia at international level. Bird previously played for the NRL for the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks and the Gold Coast Titans. He played for the Catalans Dragons in the Super League in two separate spells, having previously played for the French club in 2009. He is a NSW Country, New South Wales State of Origin, Prime Minister's XIII and Indigenous All Stars representative. Background Bird was born in Maitland, New South Wales, Australia. He played junior football for the West Maitland Red Dogs and Maitland Pumpkin Pickers before being signed by the Newcastle Knights. He played for the Knights' Harold Matthews and SG Ball teams before being signed by the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks. In 2001, while playing for Rutherford Technology High School, Bird was selected for the Australian Schoolboys team and captained the side. Professional playing career Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks In round 7 of the 2002 NRL season, Bird made his NRL debut for the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks against the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs. In 2003, he became a regular first-grader for the Sharks. In 2004, Bird obtained notoriety after kneeing South Sydney Rabbitohs Shane Marteene in the head during their round 4 clash, which resulted in him being sent off by the referee and being suspended from playing for 10 weeks. According to his agent, Gavin Orr, Bird had "said he copped a couple of blows to the face during the match and he got an elbow from Shane Marteene in the tackle and just lost it." Chief executive of the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks, Steve Rogers, claimed that Bird had "been made an example of" and was angered that there "wasn't much consideration given to Greg's youth and his previous record". The judiciary stated that it took Bird's remorse and good record into account, but decided upon the lengthy suspension due to the severity of the offence. After the game Bird apologised to Marteene in the dressing rooms and also wrote letters to the player and the South Sydney Rabbitohs club. In 2006, Bird posed for the Naked Rugby League 2007-08 charity calendar, which was produced to raise money for the National Breast Cancer Foundation of Australia. In March 2006, Bird was alleged to have sent model Lara Bingle inappropriate text messages, although he denied this. Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks spokesman Rob