The club finished fourth on the league table,[1] but at the end of the season Baird signed with the team who had defeated the Strikers in the elimination final, South Melbourne FC for 2002–03.
Baird returned briefly to the Queensland Lions for the 2004 QPL season, helping the team to the premiership[3] before transferring to the Bonnyrigg White Eagles in the New South Wales Premier League.
[4] Baird played in Queensland's 3–0 loss to Sydney FC in the Australian qualifiers for the 2004–05 Oceania Club Championship, but in late June he was struck with osteitis pubis, and it was feared he would miss the start of the inaugural A-League season.
[7] Late in the season, Baird was released from the second year of his Roar contract to sign a four-year deal with Romanian club FC Universitatea Craiova,[8] and finished off his A-League career with a goal in his final game.
Australia finished on top of their group with 7 points, including a surprise victory over Brazil, before losing 1-0 to the hosts, the United Arab Emirates in the round of sixteen.