It wasn't quite the happy homecoming former favourite son Greg Bird had hoped for, but the Gold Coast enforcer says he still enjoyed his first trip back to Shark Park on Saturday night.
Bird, who was sacked by Cronulla in 2008 in a blaze of controversy after he was charged over the alleged assault of then girlfriend Katie Milligan, was one of the Titans' best performers in their shock 30-16 defeat.
The 26-year-old was booed by some sections of the vocal 10,116 crowd throughout the match but was generally well received both on and off the field.
"It was good, I was looking forward to it all year it wasn't really the desired result but that was only a small blip on the matches that are going to be coming up in the next few weeks for us," Bird, who visited the Sharks dressing room after the match, said.
"They (the crowd) were good, it was a bit different running out onto Shark Park in different colours but I think the fans have always been very supportive of me and I thank them for that."
"It was disappointing circumstances for me why I had to leave so I don't really see why they would turn on me, but it was great I really enjoyed playing out there tonight."
"I was a little bit anxious but I knew I didn't want to go out there and play myself out of the game for the next few weeks, I just tried to stay calm and tried to play our own game but we were a bit flat."
"There was no niggle, no niggle at all. Gal (Paul Gallen) was playing his regular game and we didn't really see much of each other for the whole game."
Despite the set-back, Bird is confident the side can bounce back quickly against the Tigers on Friday night.
"We are going to be desperate, we will need a good win next week to make sure we get the top four home semi," he said.
"That's what our goal is and that's what our goal has been since the start of the year, so we'll look at our game tonight look where we went wrong and come out against the Tigers on Friday night hopefully buzzing
Meanwhile, coach John Cartwright admits the decision to return to the Gold Coast after Monday night's win over the Roosters may have been ill-advised.
"In hindsight we probably might have tried to stay down (in Sydney) after the Monday game last week. It was a big ask to get back Tuesday and back down Friday ... but no excuses, every side faces that but it probably is a factor in why sides are struggling to get lots of wins in a row."
In injury news, Cartwright expects Anthony Laffranchi to return next week but admits Preston Campbell (hamstring) is only a 50-50 chance of playing.
Veteran Mat Rogers suffered a hip injury midway through the second half of the Titans clash but remains confident he'll play against the Tigers.
"Yeah it's a bit of a hip flexor, hip pointer, hip something," Rogers confirmed.
"It's pretty sore but I think it'll be alright. It's just a little bit painful and I couldn't really run."
"I think I'm just getting every injury before I retire just to say I've had it, but I'll be right."
"It was a contact thing and that's the beauty of it. It was a contact thing when I hit the ground. If it was a muscular thing I'd be a little worried but I think it'll be fine."