Wednesday 12 October 2016 11:47, UK
Australian forward Greg Bird has secured a return to the Catalans Dragons on a five-year contract.
The Gold Coast Titans star has been the subject of an investigation by the NRL's Integrity Unit after an alleged incident at a pub in northern New South Wales.
But the 32-year-old, who had one year remaining on his contract at the Titans, has been granted a release.
Bird said: "I had always intended to return to the Dragons and promised the chairman [Bernard Guasch] I would come back and win a premiership.
"They reached out to me and offered me a long-term deal this week which I was only to happy to agree to. I have fond memories of my time at the Dragons. It's a wonderful place to live and my wife and I are excited to be taking on this new chapter in our lives."
Dragons CEO Christophe Jouffret added: "It was always going to happen, we have kept in contact with Greg and his manager Chris Orr every year and enquired about when Greg was going to return."
Bird last played for the Dragons in 2009 before joining the Titans the following year and has since racked up 129 NRL appearances.
The club acknowledged the impact Bird had during his first spell.
Jouffret said: "He is the type of player our team needs to lead us on the field and with his experience and extremely competitive nature we look forward to having him again playing in the Catalan Dragons jersey.
"The club has agreed to assist Greg's aspirations to one day coach professionally. He will work along side our junior coaches whilst playing and will take up an assistant coach's position with the Super League team in the final two years of his contract."
