Cronulla five-eighth Greg Bird claimed coach Ricky Stuart had every right to be disgusted with his side's effort in going down to the Bulldogs on Monday night.

The Sharks produced their most inept display of the season in going down 30-22 at ANZ Stadium, Stuart scathing in his summation as his side slipped down to eighth spot on the ladder.

Stuart banned his players from talking to the media after the game, Bird still a little sheepish as he begrudgingly answered a few questions at a sponsor's function on Tuesday.

Nursing a corked calf which he first picked up in Origin I before aggravating it against the Bulldogs, Bird said he couldn't explain the Sharks limp performance.

"(Stuart) was pretty angry, I think it was pretty justified too," Bird said.

"We really didn't turn up to play last night, it was disappointing after a couple of good strong wins the last few weeks to come out with that performance."

Much of the news out of the heated clash has centered on the over-aggressive tactics of Bulldogs superstar Sonny Bill Williams.

A fired up Williams became involved in separate push and shove incidents with Bird and Sharks prop Ben Ross, though Bird played down talk of any ill-feeling towards the Kiwi juggernaut.

"It was just frustration on both parts I'd say, I'm pretty good mates with Sonny so I'm just keeping him on his toes," Bird said.

"It's a contact sport, it gets pretty fiery and pretty emotional on the field, I think they're the things that come part and parcel with contact sport.

"He's a tough bloke to came up against when he's having a quiet game, and when he gets fired up like he did last night, he's pretty much unstoppable and I think a lot of their good go-forward comes off him."

Bird said he didn't expect his injured calf to keep him out of Sunday's home game against Gold Coast, while the Sharks are also confident of having Brett Kearney (ankle) and Paul Gallen (corked hip) on deck.

Scans cleared Kearney of any serious damage after he was forced from the field in the early stages of Monday night's game.

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