Greg Bird believes the decision to delay his return to the NRL may pay dividends in the coming weeks as Cronulla continue their push for the finals.

The Australian and NSW star was heavily tipped to be a late inclusion in the Sharks' clash with the Broncos last Friday, but despite flying to Brisbane was left out of the final 17.

He has been named to make his comeback at lock from a six-week injury layoff in Saturday's grudge match with St George Illawarra at Toyota Stadium, and admits the extra week recovery had done his confidence in his injured knee the world of good.

"I probably could have got through (last Friday's) game but there was always that risk factor that I could come back early and reinjure it ... so it just wasn't worth risking it," Bird said.

"Coming in to a semi-final spot, we want to make sure we've got the full arsenal coming in at the end of the season, and having an extra week, I feel a lot better and a lot more confident on it.

"It was pretty painful, it was pretty hard going through it when it happened so the last thing I want is to come back and re-injure it.

"So I'm not coming back early, I'm coming back when I feel it's right.

"If I wasn't confident on it I wouldn't be coming back."

While coming off a loss, the Sharks have managed to maintain their spot in the top four despite the absence of Bird, with the representative star admitting he was far happier sitting on the sidelines with his team winning than losing.

"People think it's worse because you want to be enjoying all these wins, but it makes it much easier to sit on the sidelines and watch your team go well," Bird said.

"The other way around, when the team might be struggling a little bit and you want to be out there helping out, that's the time when it makes it hard sitting on the sideline.

"Last year when I was injured it was really hard sitting on the sideline when the team was going through that tough period, so I'd much rather sit on the sideline and watch them win than come back early."

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