I have similar concerns Mat but if anything Bird has been sacked by his club prior to the court case whereas Leon was not sacked despite being found guilty. Even if Bird's and Leon's situ was exactly the same are we saying that lads who've been convicted (and Bird hasn't) shouldn't be allowed to work again. If he's found not guilty then we must accept his inocence and if he's found guilty it's not our problem as he'll most likely go down.

What? How do you work that one out? What if he gets found guilty of say no more than the Australian equivalent of common assault, for example? I don't think you can say "most likely" at all.

[url=http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,24925118-10389,00.htmlLink[/url.

How many Oz players have gone through the visa/w-p process in less than 10-12 weeks since the new processing came into operation half way through last season? None I am aware of.

If the nightclub assault case is still going ahead in mid March I assume he would have to appear at the case. Even if guilty he would be eligible to play in the UK.

the back end of march would be more likely and then back to Oz after around 2/3 games for the bigger trial.

If guilty on the 'actual bodily harm charge' (even if he is given comunity service) he will not play for you again. If he comes through okay then ready to go from May.

If he does not come you are no worse off. If he does you have a cracker.

He's been charged with reckless wounding, assault occasioning actual bodily harm and two charges of lying to police. The actual bodily harm is a fractured eye socket so how is he going to be found guilty of common assault?

It will be interesting to see how things go. He may well only play a year, most likely not even a full one in 09. But if he enjoys his rugby and settles in the team.. he may take up the remaining years. I expect he'll initially enjoy getting away from the higher media profile that he currently has in Aus.

A lot can happen in six months.. for the time being I just hope we see the international class player he can be whilst wearing a Bulls shirt this season.

A stopgap signing perhaps www.sportinglife.com/rugbyleague ... ckyer.html

A stopgap signing perhaps www.sportinglife.com/rugbyleague ... ckyer.html

but whose to say he didnt apply for a visa several months ago when he was first being linked with a move to SL? work permit he wont have been able to apply for till he knew which club he was going to but work permits generally dont take that long to process

Perhaps if he is convicted we could ask for him to be transported here !










(reconstruction)

disclaimer : any connection to any person living or dead for the above emoticon is purely coincidence.











But on a serious note if Bird is convicted of the charges he faces prison beckons as I suspect the Aussie criminal justice system is less supine than the one in the U.K.

And quite rightly so as DV has to be condemned wherever it occurs.

Dont worry,if he doesnt get his Visa he can always blame someone else.

Mick Gledhill will blame the ref.

Ashley Klein may have caused UK Immigration to tighten things up.

Hang your heads in shame Bulls Club Board. This fool should not even be in the country never mind playing in our league. Its nothing short of a disgrace and the RFL should have stopped it. What sort of message does this send out to kids. Talk about double standards. I suppose the term "win at all costs" is the new motto at Bradford.
I would like to know how Carney and Croker are stumbling with their visas and he is ok. You should put an advert in the Bradford job centres. "Glass your missus and play for the Bulls".
Unbloodybelievable.
How can Chef Walker loose 12 months of his career in the nick for a fight outside a club and he, doesn't do a day in jail but walks straight into a job over here.
RFL answer that. You must have some very influential board members.

He turned me into a newt.

Erm . . . .do you think(rhetorical) it could have been because Chav was found guilty in a court of law, perhaps??

<. . . as opposed to the Kangaroo (geddit?

) court you just seem to have made-up

>

We do agree on one point though, [iunbloodybelievable [/i- though I suspect for differing reasons

I bet he doesn't.

I have been talking about this signing with THE bird today and she's a season ticket holder also and sees this the same as me. I honestly can't say what I think about this. Aside from the obvious problems relating to his fitness, preparation, guilt or not, morality of the signing etc. Can we hold our heads up above Hull, Hull KR, Wigan, Leeds, Warrington, Huddersfield, Saints, Cas etc because we don't have thugs playing for us whether he is or he isn't? But again if he turns out to be good both of us have said we might no longer have any reservations about him. It's left me in ethical limbo. I just hope he is actually a nice young lad that hasn't done anything really bad got himself in a situation through stupidity and will turn his life around with Bradford.

www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/s ... 07,00.html Bird will come back to OZ in 2010.He is just biding his time until the NRL allow him to play.Cronulla coach Ricki Stuart said Bird will be out to prove a point in 2010 back in NRL. I think the club would be better investing their time and money into rewarding loyalty to players that want to play for the club,not to ones that have a year to fill in.Will our players off contract this year have to wait around to see if Bird is staying?We may loose loyal players if this is the case.

www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/s ... 07,00.html Bird will come back to OZ in 2010.He is just biding his time until the NRL allow him to play.Cronulla coach Ricki Stuart said Bird will be out to prove a point in 2010 back in NRL. I think the club would be better investing their time and money into rewarding loyalty to players that want to play for the club,not to ones that have a year to fill in.Will our players off contract this year have to wait around to see if Bird is staying?We may loose loyal players if this is the case.

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So should be fine getting approved for a RL half back then!

Bird has yet to play for us (W/P & Visa pending) If he gets here and plays for us perhaps in Menzies and Morrisson we have 2 people who can help him sort his head and his game out. Things just may be on the up! This also gives us breathing space to find 2 long term half backs. You never know he may just like it over here and decide to pick up his option of the extra 2 years.....

I'm not too concerned about the spin put on by the Aussie press for his reasons to come here. Let's just concentrate on 09 before worrying about too far into the future. My gut feeling is he will play 2 seasons over here.

He will play one unless he cant get a gig back in NRL for 2010, dont kid yourself. Thats why he signed 1 year, 2 as optional just in case. Still, great signing and cant wait to see him play (just not against Wire)

Although with trying to sort a visa now which can take 2 months+ & then going back in April for court case, how many games will he play this first (and maybe last) year

Is your guess fact then? Truth is he may well be looking at going back for 2010 NOW. But when it is time to make the decision things may well have changed. Which is why I am looking forward to seeing him 09 and then seeing how things pan out.

Given the fact that no-one in Oz wants to touch him with a bargepole it might not be that easy for him to get a NRL club in 2010.

So what we want is for him to be good but not so good that he can treat options for a contract extension as though they were an option.