SUSPENDED Cronulla five-eighth Greg Bird has broken his silence since being charged with allegedly assaulting girlfriend Katie Milligan to declare he is ready to help his side to win its first premiership.

"I'd love to play," Bird told the Herald. "I want to play for the team. I want to play for the club and I want to play for myself. It's no secret that over the last couple of weeks I've been trying to do everything I can to try to get back on the field. The circumstances haven't been right.

"But now I hope something can be done so we can field the best team possible to win our first comp. I think that's what the fans and the sponsors want. They want success for the club, and that's the most important thing."

The pressure on the Sharks to reinstate Bird intensified yesterday when Brett Seymour - who has excelled in Bird's old position of five-eighth - suffered a serious knee injury that is likely to rule him out for the season.

Earlier, Milligan told reporters outside Downing Local Court she was "100 per cent" behind Bird after she failed to have an apprehended violence order against him revoked.

Bird will not ask the club to reinstate him, meaning it will be left to the Sharks to soften their stance as they chase their best chance in a decade of winning a breakthrough premiership.

There was further support yesterday from one of the Sharks' sponsors, Tynan Motors, which has stood by Bird since he was suspended following an incident at his Cronulla flat last month.

"My personal view and that of my family is that he should be playing," Madeline Tynan, board member and dealer principal of Tynan Motors, said last night. "We have been a sponsor of the Sharks for years but we are firm believers that someone is innocent until proven guilty.

"The club offered to give his car back straight away but, being a mother of four and having sons around the same age, we weren't going to prejudge him. He's always done the right thing by us. The club has its reasons, and that's their right. But I have my reasons, too. He hasn't hurt our reputation."

Bird's manager, Gavin Orr, failed last week in a plea to NRL chief executive David Gallop to allow his client to play. Orr said there were inconsistencies between Bird's situation and that of Gold Coast forward Anthony Laffranchi, who was allowed to play despite being charged with rape. Laffranchi's trial did not proceed after a magistrate found there was insufficient evidence.

This week, Broncos players Karmichael Hunt, Darius Boyd and Sam Thaiday have been questioned by police over an alleged sexual assault at a Brisbane nightclub on Saturday night but have not been stood down by the club.

"It's been tough because you put in a lot of work," Bird said. "I've been training seven years at the club to be in a position where we are now. To miss out on the most important part is pretty hard."

Bird, who has been training alone since being suspended, vowed he was ready to play if selected. "I've been making sure if something came out, or the circumstances changed, I was going to be in the right frame of mind to be able to get out there and do a job," he said. "I always wanted to play and I always wanted to be in position to play."

Seymour broke down at training at Kiama yesterday morning and will undergo an arthroscopy tomorrow but the club fears he will need reconstructive surgery to repair the ligament damage.

"I feel sorry for Brett," Cronulla coach Ricky Stuart said. "He'd been playing very well and was a big part of why our attack had improved in recent weeks. He'll be a big loss for us."

The club said in a statement last night that "a potential replacement for Seymour has not yet been determined".

Asked if there was any hope Bird might be selected, Sharks chief executive Tony Zappia said: "Not until further information is provided by him. From our point of view, there has been no clarification on the incident."

While Bird wants to play, he said it was not difficult watching the Sharks trounce the Raiders 36-10 on Saturday night.

"It was good watching them dominate," the Australia and NSW star said. "The team played well and it's finally apparent all the hard work we've been doing on our attack is paying off. I was pretty happy sitting there."