Jack Bird

Jack Bird
Personal information
Born (1995-03-20) 20 March 1995
Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia
Height 183 cm (6 ft 0 in)
Weight 93 kg (14 st 9 lb)
Playing information
Position Centre, Five-eighth, Lock, Halfback

Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2015–17 Cronulla Sharks 67 17 0 0 68
2018– Brisbane Broncos 8 0 0 0 0
Total 75 17 0 0 68
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 4 March 2018
Source: [1]

Jack Bird (born 20 March 1995) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays for the Brisbane Broncos in the National Rugby League. Bird primarily plays as a centre, five-eighth and lock but is capable of playing any position. Bird is a New South Wales State of Origin, Country Origin, Prime Minister's XIII and Indigenous All Stars representative. He was part of the Cronulla team that won their maiden premiership title in the 2016 season.

Background

Born in Wollongong, Bird is of Indigenous Australian descent and 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.[2][3] On 3 May 2014, he played for the New South Wales under-20s team against the Queensland under-20s team.[4] On 18 September 2014, he signed a two-year contract with the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks starting in 2015.[5] On 18 October 2014, he played for the Junior Kangaroos against the Junior Kiwis.[6]

2015

On 31 January and 1 February, Bird played for the Sharks in the 2015 NRL Auckland Nines.[7] In Round 4 of the 2015 NRL season, he made his NRL debut for the Sharks against the Gold Coast Titans, playing off the interchange bench in the Sharks' 22–24 loss at Remondis Stadium.[8][9][10] In Round 5 against the Sydney Roosters, he played at five-eighth for the Sharks 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.[11][12] On 3 May, he 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.[13][14] On 28 September, at the 2015 Dally M Awards night, he was named the Dally M Rookie of the Year after playing in 23 matches and scoring 8 tries for the Sharks.[15][16][17]

2016

On 15 January, Bird re-signed with the Sharks on a one-year contract.[18][19] In February, he played for the Sharks in the 2016 NRL Auckland Nines.[20] On 8 May 2016, Bird played for Country Origin against City Origin, where he played at halfback in the 44–30 loss in Tamworth.[21] 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.[22][23] Bird also played in Game 3, where he again played off interchange bench in the Blues 18–14 win at ANZ Stadium.[24] On 2 October 2016, in the Sharks 2016 NRL Grand Final match 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.[25] Bird finished his successful 2016 NRL season with him playing in 26 matches and scoring 6 tries for the Sharks.

2017

In February 2017, Bird was selected in the Sharks 2017 NRL Auckland Nines squad.[26] 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.[27][28] On 13 April 2017, it was announced that Bird signed a lucrative 4-year deal, worth $4 million with the Brisbane Broncos starting in 2018.[29] 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.[30] 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.[31]

References

  1. ↑ "Jack Bird – Career Stats & Summary". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 9 December 2015.
  2. ↑ "Jack Bird". Nycdatabase.org. 20 March 1995. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
  3. ↑ "TV: Jack Bird". Dragons.com.au. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
  4. ↑ "NSW U20s ORIGIN SQUAD ANNOUNCED". Rugby League Week. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
  5. ↑ "Bird lands at Sharks in 2015". Sharks.com.au. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
  6. ↑ "Junior Kangaroos side to face NZ". NRL.com. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
  7. ↑ "SHARKS NAME 2015 NINES SQUAD". Rugby League Week. 23 January 2015. Archived from the original on 3 February 2016. Retrieved 9 December 2015.
  8. ↑ "Custom Match List". Rugby League Project. 19 October 2015. Retrieved 17 January 2016.
  9. ↑ "NRL Team List – Sharks v Titans". Sharks.com.au. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
  10. ↑ "Sharks v Titans: Five key points". NRL.com. 28 March 2015. Retrieved 9 December 2015.
  11. ↑ "Cronulla Youngster Jack Bird Inspires Side to First Win". The Australian. Retrieved 10 April 2015. (subscription required)
  12. ↑ "Ben Barba Cronulla: Rise of Jack Bird, Valentine Holmes gives veterans uncertain futures". Foxsports.com.au. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
  13. ↑ "Representative Round team lists". NRL.com. 28 April 2015. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
  14. ↑ "Country overcome City in seesawing affair". NRL.com. 3 May 2015. Retrieved 9 December 2015.
  15. ↑ "Custom Match List". Rugby League Project. 19 October 2015. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
  16. ↑ 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.
  17. ↑ "Dally M 2015 : Every Award Winner Including Team of the Year". The Daily Telegraph. Australia. 3 May 2015. Retrieved 9 December 2015.
  18. ↑ "Bird signs contract extension | NRL". Zero Tackle. Retrieved 17 January 2016.
  19. ↑ "Bird Signs Contract Extension". Sharks.com.au. Retrieved 17 January 2016.
  20. ↑ "Cronulla Sharks name 2016 Nines squad". Rugby League Week. 29 January 2016. Archived from the original on 31 January 2016. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  21. ↑ "Young City side stun Country". NRL.com. 28 February 2016. Retrieved 10 May 2016.
  22. ↑ http://www.theaustralian.com.au/sport/nrl/jack-bird-promoted-to-nsw-bench-for-origin-two-in-brisbane/news-story/13a7b0e9840de3dab8d6add105db52dd
  23. ↑ http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/rugby-league-match-centre/state-of-origin-game-2-2016-nsw-blues-v-qld-maroons-20160531-gp8mcw.html
  24. ↑ https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/nrl/state-of-origin/state-of-origin-2016-nsw-defeat-queensland-1814-with-lastgasp-try/news-story/897e90520f341f959319c6df26dd6cc0
  25. ↑ "NRL grand final: Jack Bird played on with suspected broken arm". The Daily Telegraph. Australia. 3 October 2016. Retrieved 5 October 2016.
  26. ↑ http://www.nrl.com/2017-downer-nrl-auckland-nines-squads/tabid/10874/newsid/103308/default.aspx
  27. ↑ https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/nrl/indigenous-all-stars-thump-world-all-stars-348-in-newcastle/news-story/a016f102b1c7ddc5bbdeeedb83a149c5
  28. ↑ http://www.nrl.com/all-stars-an-eye-opening-experience-for-bird/tabid/10874/newsid/103641/default.aspx
  29. ↑ https://wwos.nine.com.au/2017/04/13/12/29/brisbane-broncos-sign-cronulla-sharks-star-jack-bird-on-three-year-nrl-deal
  30. ↑ http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/league-news/state-of-origin-2017-jack-bird-aims-to-be-blues-middleman-with-series-on-line-20170629-gx12cz.html
  31. ↑ http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/heros-welcome-for-prime-ministers-xiii-in-port-moresby-20170921-gym692.html
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