Jack Bird

Jack Bird (born 20 March 1995) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays as a centre and five-eighth for the Brisbane Broncos in the NRL.

Jack Bird
Personal information
Born (1995-03-20) 20 March 1995
Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia
Height183 cm (6 ft 0 in)
Weight96 kg (15 st 2 lb)
Playing information
PositionCentre, Five-eighth, Fullback
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2015–17 Cronulla Sharks 67 17 0 0 68
2018– Brisbane Broncos 17 2 0 0 8
Total 84 19 0 0 76
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2015–16 NSW Country 2 0 0 0 0
2016–17 New South Wales 5 0 0 0 0
2017 Indigenous All Stars 1 1 0 0 4
2017 Prime Minister's XIII 1 0 0 0 0
As of 11 May 2020
Source: [1][2]

Bird previously played for the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks where he won the 2016 NRL Grand Final. He is a New South Wales State of Origin, Country Origin, Prime Minister's XIII and Indigenous All Stars representative.

Background

Bird was born in Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia, and is of Indigenous Australian descent.

Bird played his junior rugby league for the Berkeley Eagles, before being signed by the St George Illawarra Dragons. Bird attributed his early success to his idol, the Balmain Brawler, Jody Pennell, who was a Tigers great back in the 80's. Pennell was quoted as describing a young Bird as someone he could see great potential in, on and off the field.

Playing career

Early career

In 2013 and 2014, Bird played for the St George Illawarra Dragons' NYC team.[3][4] On 3 May 2014, Bird played for the New South Wales under-20s team against the Queensland under-20s team, playing at lock in the 30-8 win at Penrith Stadium.[5] On 18 September 2014, Bird signed a two-year contract with the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks starting in 2015.[6][7] On 18 October 2014, Bird played for the Junior Kangaroos against the Junior Kiwis, playing at centre in the 15-14 loss at Mt Smart Stadium.[8]

2015

On 31 January and 1 February 2015, Bird played for Cronulla-Sutherland in the 2015 NRL Auckland Nines.[9] In round 4 of the 2015 NRL season, Bird made his NRL debut for the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks against the Gold Coast Titans, playing off the interchange bench in Cronulla's 24-22 loss at Shark Park.[10][11][12] In his next match in round 5 against the Sydney Roosters, Bird played at five-eighth for Cronulla-Sutherland in the absence of regular five-eighth Ben Barba. Bird scored two tries and set up another in the Sharks' 20–12 upset win over the 2013 premiers, causing him to be selected again at five-eighth the next week ahead of Barba who was named on the interchange bench.[13][14] On 3 May 2015, Bird played for New South Wales Country against New South Wales City in the 2015 City vs Country Origin match, playing at halfback in Country's 34–22 win at Wagga Wagga.[15][16] On 28 September 2015, at the 2015 Dally M Awards night, Bird was named the Dally M Rookie of the Year after playing in 23 matches and scoring 8 tries for Cronulla.[17][18][19]

2016

On 15 January 2016, Bird re-signed with Cronulla-Sutherland on a one-year contract.[20][21] In February 2016, Bird played for the Sharks in the 2016 NRL Auckland Nines.[22] On 8 May 2016, Bird played for Country Origin against City Origin, where he played at halfback in the 44–30 loss in Tamworth.[23]

On 22 June 2016, Bird made his representative debut for New South Wales in Game 2 of the 2016 State of Origin series, where played he filled the void on the interchange bench for Dylan Walker who shifted to centre in the 26–16 loss at Suncorp Stadium.[24][25] Bird also played in Game 3, where he again played off interchange bench in the Blues 18–14 win at ANZ Stadium.[26]

On 2 October 2016, in Cronulla's 2016 NRL Grand Final against the Melbourne Storm, Bird played at centre and bravely played the majority of the match with an elbow injury in the historic 14–12 victory.[27] Bird finished his successful 2016 NRL season with him playing in 26 matches and scoring 6 tries for Cronulla-Sutherland.

2017

In February 2017, Bird was selected in the Sharks 2017 NRL Auckland Nines squad.[28] On 10 February 2017, Bird played for the Indigenous All Stars against the World All Stars in the 2017 All Stars match, starting at centre and scoring a try in the 34–8 win at Hunter Stadium.[29][30]

On 13 April 2017, it was announced that Bird signed a lucrative four-year deal, worth $4 million with the Brisbane Broncos starting in 2018.[31] For the 2017 State of Origin series, Bird played in all 3 matches off the interchange bench for the Blues in their 2–1 series loss.[32] Bird finished his last year with Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks with him playing in 17 matches and scoring 3 tries in the 2017 NRL season.

On 23 September 2017, Bird played for Prime Minister's XIII against Papua New Guinea, starting at five-eighth in the 48–8 win in Port Moresby.[33]

2018

When Bird arrived in Brisbane, he had an existing shoulder injury that he suffered at the end of the 2017 season and Broncos coach Wayne Bennett claimed that the Sharks didn’t disclose the full extent of his injury before his move, the Broncos were only aware of his injury by Bird himself and that he needed surgery that would’ve ruled him out for till at least Round 4.[34] In round 3 of the 2018 NRL season, Bird made his club debut for Brisbane earlier than expected against the Wests Tigers, playing at centre in the gritty 9-7 win at Campbelltown Stadium.[35][36]

After the match, Bird was heavily criticised by NRL fans for looking overweight, Bird commenting, "I don't really care what they think to be honest", "I'm happy with my weight, I feel good, "I do have to lose some body fat but it comes with time, being injured doesn't help, "Give me time and hopefully I can slim down a little bit but I'm feeling healthy."[37][38] In round 10 against the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles, Bird succumbed to the sternum injury that has plagued him for nine months and end his season early during Brisbane's 38-24 loss at Suncorp Stadium.[39] Bird would have a horror 2018 NRL season, only playing in 8 matches for the Broncos because of his shoulder and sternum injuries were still ongoing during the year.[40]

2019

Bird made his return for Brisbane in the 2019 season opening round 1 match against the Melbourne Storm, playing at centre in the 22-12 loss at AAMI Park.[41] Following the match, Bird was receiving negative feedback on social media about his performance despite it was his first match back since round 10 of the previous season, fans were quick to judge his performance based on an early error, and he finished with 127 running metres, three tackle-breaks and 11 tackles. During the first half, Bird was hit hard by Storm winger Suliasi Vunivalu and coughed up the ball for Curtis Scott to race away and score for Melbourne.[42] In Round 3 against the St George Illawarra Dragons, Bird scored his first club try for the Broncos in the heartbreaking last second 25-24 loss at Suncorp Stadium.[43]

During the early rounds, Bird would slowly re-capture his good form that he showed at Cronulla and was in the frame for a return to the State of Origin arena but unfortunately in round 9 in the Broncos Magic Round clash with the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles, Bird suffered a season-ending anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) knee injury during the Broncos 26-10 win at Suncorp Stadium.[44][45] Bird’s 2019 NRL season was cut short, finishing with 9 matches and scoring 2 tries for Brisbane.

2020

On 11 March, Bird was ruled out for the entire 2020 NRL season after suffering an ACL injury at pre-season training. Bird took to Instagram saying "People who know me know how hard I have worked to get to the stage I was at leading into this season, and with that, I’m truly heartbroken that I have to start this process all over again".[46][47]

References
  1. loverugbyleague
  2. "Jack Bird – Career Stats & Summary". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 9 December 2015.
  3. "Jack Bird". Nycdatabase.org. 20 March 1995. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
  4. "TV: Jack Bird". Dragons.com.au. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
  5. "NSW U20s ORIGIN SQUAD ANNOUNCED". Rugby League Week. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
  6. "Bird signs two-year deal with Sharks". National Rugby League. 18 September 2014.
  7. "Bird lands at Sharks in 2015". Sharks.com.au. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
  8. "Junior Kangaroos side to face NZ". NRL.com. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
  9. "SHARKS NAME 2015 NINES SQUAD". Rugby League Week. 23 January 2015. Archived from the original on 3 February 2016. Retrieved 9 December 2015.
  10. "Custom Match List". Rugby League Project. 19 October 2015. Retrieved 17 January 2016.
  11. "NRL Team List – Sharks v Titans". Sharks.com.au. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
  12. "Sharks v Titans: Five key points". NRL.com. 28 March 2015. Retrieved 9 December 2015.
  13. "Cronulla Youngster Jack Bird Inspires Side to First Win". The Australian. Retrieved 10 April 2015. (subscription required)
  14. "Ben Barba Cronulla: Rise of Jack Bird, Valentine Holmes gives veterans uncertain futures". Foxsports.com.au. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
  15. "Representative Round team lists". NRL.com. 28 April 2015. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
  16. "Country overcome City in seesawing affair". NRL.com. 3 May 2015. Retrieved 9 December 2015.
  17. "Custom Match List". Rugby League Project. 19 October 2015. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
  18. Parkinson, Andrew (29 September 2015). "Outstanding debut for Jack Bird with Dally M Rookie of the Year award | St George & Sutherland Shire Leader". Theleader.com.au. Retrieved 9 December 2015.
  19. "Dally M 2015 : Every Award Winner Including Team of the Year". The Daily Telegraph. Australia. 3 May 2015. Retrieved 9 December 2015.
  20. "Bird signs contract extension | NRL". Zero Tackle. Retrieved 17 January 2016.
  21. "Bird Signs Contract Extension". Sharks.com.au. Retrieved 17 January 2016.
  22. "Cronulla Sharks name 2016 Nines squad". Rugby League Week. 29 January 2016. Archived from the original on 31 January 2016. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  23. "Young City side stun Country". NRL.com. 28 February 2016. Retrieved 10 May 2016.
  24. "Bird promoted to Blues bench". www.theaustralian.com.au. 18 June 2016.
  25. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 22 December 2017. Retrieved 21 December 2017.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  26. "Brilliant Blues win it at the last". www.dailytelegraph.com.au. 13 July 2016.
  27. "NRL grand final: Jack Bird played on with suspected broken arm". The Daily Telegraph. Australia. 3 October 2016. Retrieved 5 October 2016.
  28. "2017 Downer NRL Auckland Nines squads". National Rugby League. 3 February 2017.
  29. "Indigenous All Stars too hot to handle". www.dailytelegraph.com.au. 10 February 2017.
  30. "All Stars an eye-opening experience for Bird". National Rugby League. 9 February 2017.
  31. "Brisbane Broncos sign NRL star Jack Bird from Cronulla Sharks on three-year deal". wwos.nine.com.au.
  32. Pengilly, Adam (29 June 2017). "State of Origin 2017: Jack Bird craving more minutes in middle with series on line". The Sydney Morning Herald.
  33. Buckley, James (21 September 2017). "Hero's welcome for Prime Minister's XIII in Port Moresby". The Sydney Morning Herald.
  34. "Jack Bird shoulder surgery, injury, NRL signs with Broncos from Sharks, Wayne Bennett blows up". 2 November 2017.
  35. "Jack Bird to make Brisbane Broncos debut v Wests Tigers, NRL teams round 3". 22 March 2018.
  36. "Brisbane Broncos down Wests Tigers in golden point - Nine Wide World of Sports - NRL". wwos.nine.com.au.
  37. Rugari, Vince (26 March 2018). "Bird happy with weight despite fat sledges". Newcastle Herald.
  38. "Jack Bird weight, Brisbane Broncos NRL fitness 2018, team, signing, photos". 14 February 2018.
  39. https://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nrl-premiership/teams/broncos/wayne-bennett-concedes-jack-birds-nrl-season-likely-over/news-story/d3b3d9243103c3703c838b1e5b625813
  40. "Jack Bird NRL injury, Brisbane Broncos team, surgery". 15 June 2018.
  41. https://www.couriermail.com.au/sport/nrl/storm-v-broncos-live-coverage-of-round-1-blockbuster/live-coverage/f83f3088c210927d1e6332f4bf166e29
  42. https://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nrl-premiership/teams/broncos/worth-the-wait-social-media-barrage-for-bronco-bird/news-story/16b5265ce06c2991bf88a49d03262b9f
  43. https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/nrl/teams/dragons/corey-norman-delivers-last-second-field-goal-as-saints-down-brisbane-2524/news-story/fb59961a064718266f5f820f17be0d65
  44. https://www.nrl.com/news/2019/05/10/milford-turns-on-the-magic-as-broncos-beat-sea-eagles/
  45. https://www.nrl.com/news/2019/05/11/jack-birds-season-over-after-broncos-confirm-acl-injury/
  46. "Broncos dealt MASSIVE injury blow as $900k star goes down at training". www.foxsports.com.au.
  47. "'My whole world has come crumbling down': Bird's ACL heartbreak". www.nrl.com.
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