The Sharks have proven they're tough on violence against women - having sacked Tevita Latu for punching a woman in May 2006.
I have no doubt the Sharks will axe Bird and the NRL will deregister him if he's proven guilty of this most-serious offence - no other punishment from the game's officials would be strong enough.
I don't believe Bird should be sacked or deregistered until the charges are dealt with in court. He should, however, be stood down from playing until then, despite what effect it might have on the club's premiership campaign.
I am horrified and disgusted at the shocking nature of the allegations. No one, let alone a woman, should be subjected to such violence.
Bird has not only once again let himself, his family, coach and teammates, and fans down - and possibly cost them a maiden premiership - he's ruined a young girl's life.
I am a Sharks fan and I won't defend anyone against such allegations.
I will remind everyone that they are only allegations at this stage, and the charge of maliciously inflicting grievous bodily harm contains a presumption against bail - that means police don't have any choice but to remand in custody a person charged with this offence. So a person's guilt cannot be drawn from the fact they've been refused police bail.
Finally, there seems to be mounting evidence of a culture of alcohol-fuelled off-field thuggery in the NRL, with players constantly finding themselves in the headlines for being in trouble with the law.
Maybe the NRL and club officials need to start tackling this problem, which is having a much bigger impact on the game's image, than issues like the $onny Bill Williams affair!
If the NRL continues to sit on its hands and not take any action to address alcohol-related incidents it will risk alienating key fan bases - primarily families and women.
