'Don't know much': Star backtracks on awkward criticism

Dragons prima Jack Bird has apologised to St George Illawarra fans for disparaging comments helium made astir them astatine a media conference.

Bird fronted the media connected Wednesday afternoon, up of the club's crippled against the Cowboys successful Townsville connected Saturday.

The Dragons person slipped to 16th connected the ladder connected the backmost of 5 consecutive losses, with lone points differential keeping them disconnected the bottommost of the table.

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Embattled manager Anthony Griffin is seemingly facing the axe arsenic soon arsenic adjacent week, bringing to an extremity an unhappy two-and-a-half years successful charge.

When questioned astir Griffin's future, Bird took purpose astatine the club's supporters.

"Fans don't truly cognize excessively overmuch astir footy I don't think. They've got a batch to accidental astir radical connected the field," helium said connected Wednesday.

"I don't deliberation they person ever played a crippled of footy. I americium conscionable speaking from first-hand worldly that I person been copping. I consciousness atrocious for Hook [Griffin]. It is america [players] retired determination playing, truthful we should beryllium the ones [fans] are baying for."

Jack Bird is backtracking aft disparaging remarks astir St George Illawarra fans. (Chris Hyde/Getty Images)

Speaking to the Sydney Morning Herald, Bird backtracked connected his criticism.

"I privation to accidental atrocious to the fans for upsetting them," helium said. "In nary way, signifier oregon signifier did I mean to marque comments coming astatine the fans personally, I was conscionable trying to instrumentality up for my coach.

"What I said is not what I meant, I conscionable wanted to clarify it. It came retired the incorrect way, I got tripped up a spot successful the mode I expressed myself, I didn't mean it successful that way.

"I conscionable privation to wide everything up. Hook is not conscionable my coach, he's my person arsenic well."

Bird said his comments came retired the incorrect mode arsenic helium tried to enactment Griffin.

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Anthony Griffin is expected to beryllium axed arsenic St George Illawarra coach. (NRL Imagery)

"When you person a coach, you ever effort to backmost them, nary substance what. He's evidently nether a batch of unit and I don't privation to canine my ain manager oregon spot different radical speech crap astir him. I was conscionable sticking up for him.

"I'm good with worldly coming my way. But radical don't recognize that with Hook going done a unsmooth spot with football, helium whitethorn beryllium struggling with worldly extracurricular of footy arsenic well. That tin propulsion idiosyncratic implicit the edge.

"It wasn't that fans don't cognize what they are talking about, it was that they whitethorn not cognize what's going connected down the scenes successful someone's idiosyncratic life."

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