Titans' battered Blue Greg Bird faces sideline stint

GREG Bird faces a long period sidelined with injury and Titans teammate Nate Myles is also a doubt for the round 18 Warriors game.

BLUES enforcer Greg Bird faces an extended period on the sidelines with a pectoral muscles injury and Titans teammate Nate Myles is also battling to be fit for tomorrow night's match against the Warriors at Skilled Park.

Bird and Myles tore into each other on Wednesday night in a a graphic illustration of the mate against mate rivalry that is Origin football.

They are close friends and their focus now is to help the Titans qualify for the NRL finals, a task that is not beyond them given they are four points outside the top eight with nine rounds left.

The Titans (16 points) and Warriors (18) are regarded as the clubs most likely to gatecrash the top eight, which looks reasonably settled at the moment.

Bird, who was sidelined by a pecs injury in the pre-season, will be assessed by the Titans medical staff today.

"It's unlikely he will play against the Warriors, but Carty (coach John Cartwright) spoke to the NSW medical staff and they didn't think it was that serious," Titans football manager Scott Clark said.

"For the moment he is still in the team, but you never know with these injuries. Players can be out for a while."

Clark said Myles was keen to play against the Warriors.

"But he said to Carty, 'I'm bloody sore'," Clark said.

The Titans hope to have fullback Will Zillman, centre Beau Champion and prop Luke Douglas back from injury, while prop Matt White has recovered after a four-night stay in hospital with complications from tonsillitis.

Winger David Mead will decide today whether to play against the Warriors following the death of his father this week after a two-year battle with cancer. Steve Michaels is on standby.

Former Titans hooker Nathan Friend came through unscathed in the Warriors' 35-18 win over the Cowboys last Sunday, playing 61 minutes and making 29 tackles in his return from a broken jaw.

Friend's clash with young Titans hooker Matt Srama shapes as one of the match highlights.