Boom Sydney Roosters halves Mitchell Pearce and Todd Carney could be in for a Friday night from hell with Gold Coast intimidator Greg Bird set to smash them off Suncorp Stadium.

Gold Coast coach John Cartwright stopped short of confirming the NSW enforcer, who has done the job against Darren Lockyer at State of Origin level, would target the Roosters' dynamic duo in the NRL preliminary final.

But Cartwright warned there would be no place to hide from a fired-up Bird, who loves a seek and destroy mission.

"He unsettles whoever is in front of him," he said.

"If one of them, or whoever is in front of him, he wants to hurt them and he wants to beat them.

"You can't break ranks but whoever's in front of him, and he gets a chance, he is going to smash them.

"That's the way he plays. When he tackles you he wants to hurt you, when he's got the ball he wants to hurt you.

"That's been a real bonus us for us this year."

Cartwright said the threat posed by Roosters skipper Braith Anasta, like Bird a former five-eighth who will line up in the back row, could not be underestimated.

"He's a very smart footballer. That's why he scores a lot of tries, he just has that knack of bobbing up in the right area and he's also got a good kicking game," he said.

"With the halves running the show the way they do, it's probably freed him up to pick and choose his involvement more.

"As far as his career at the Roosters is concerned, I'd say he is playing as good as he ever has and that has a lot to do with the pressure being off him in the playmaking role."

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