It was always going to happen though really wasn't it.

It might be just the boost for the side come May time though.



On what grounds was he refused?

I thought at this current time he was innocent and had no criminal record?

but even if he got here for July, I'd still welcome him to the club for 4 months.

It's always good to keep people guessing!

Here's the thing, I'm sure if he's completely unable to get a visa that he'll be able to come to some arrangement with the sharks about being allowed to play in Oz. If not he'll probably either go to some bush league club a la Lyon or he'll bugger off to Union

I wouldn't count on it just look at carney's case.

The nrl were ready to ban bird until he signed the agreement with the sharks that he wouldn't seek to play for anyone down under next year.

Shame, would have been a quality addition to the Bulls and SL in general. Will have to see what happens regarding his court case now..



If he is cleared of an wrong doing then we have an exceptional mid season recruit, but for now we should concentrate and plan for a Bulls side without Greg Bird. If he comes then it'll just be a huge bonus.

But has a court case pending. I'm sure he's free to reapply once the trial has concluded.

well at least its consistent with Carney. Crocker and now Bird refused

Really dissappointed, hope he does appeal.

with the side benefits of him coming with a clean sheet and saving his wages for a few months.



tbh I'd rather it happened this way. If he's cleared then he comes in mid season (allowing same time his visa decision took this time he'd be here for late may.) when we may have injuries and need a boost and with no negative publicity. If he goes down then we avoid the bad publicity of him having played for us upto his trial and have a nice chunk of salary cap should someone else become available maybe on a longer term deal. He was a very late signing so its not like we've spent the pre-season planning around him so he doesnt leave a big gap in the squad to be filled which is situation hull and hudds are in.

The NRL were never going to do anything till he'd been to court. For the simple reason if found not guilty Bird could and more likely would have done is take the NRL to court.

The trouble is it's not even the same. Crocker and Carney were refused because of convictions. Bird has been refused because he might be convicted.