Shane Flanagan, the new coach of the St George Illawarra Dragons, has announced that Jack Bird will move from forward to center position this season.
Flanagan, who played primarily in the second row, off the interchange bench, and at lock last season, hopes that a move to the centres will rekindle his Origin form and allow him to focus on just one role this season.
Surprisingly, the incoming coach revealed that he will be the club’s first halves replacement if Kyle Flanagan or Ben Hunt are injured or dropped due to inconsistent form.
The news indicates a new signing.Jesse Marschke, a North Sydney Bears player, will primarily play in the reserve grade this season.
“If we’ve got an injury in the halves then I say ‘Birdy’ will be our first halves replacement because he does a good job there,” coach Shane Flanagan said via NCA Newswire.
“He did it as a kid and played there at the Sharks for us.”
“But Birdy has predominantly been training at centre, and that’s where he played for me at the Sharks as well and did a really good job.
“I think he’s smart defensively and he carries the ball strongly out of the backend of the field. If you look at back-rowers these days, they’re tall, big and athletic. Birdy would like to tell you he is, but he’s not.”
Although he has played five Origin games for the NSW Blues, Bird was dropped down to the NSW Cup last season for two weeks due to inconsistent form.
As pre-season training continues, Bird hopes Flanagan will be able to get him back to his outstanding form during the 2016 and 2017 seasons.
“Last year was last year. Stuff happens. It was probably a good wake-up call. I want to play first grade, I don’t want to play reserve grade,” Bird told NRL.com previously.
“I think I’m a first grader and getting dropped back there … hopefully this year is going to be a better year for myself and the team, and I think Flanno can bring the best out of me so I don’t get dropped again.
“I enjoy being coached by Flanno. It’s been refreshing. Me and Flanno get on pretty well, we can chat, we can joke, there’s no BS with him.
“You can’t stuff around with Flanno, he’ll get up you – especially me, he gets up me all the time.”
