Re: Bird

[PNG Broncos fan88]

Bird has played 17/51 games for the broncs (assuming he does not make it back by the end of the year) and also assuming we don't count this year's finals series yet.

That's 1/3.

He's got the talent and I don't think anyone questions his effort, you can see it written all over his face when he is out there - but injury prone players are a liability - particularly very highly paid ones. Even if we did find a club to offload him to, he would go for massive unders as his reliability is shot. He played a fair chunk of 2017 injured too - only lined up for 17/27 games for that year for the sharks. In fact, I don't think he has played out a full season since hitting the NRL?
Money is better spent elsewhere. Not to say he is a bad player, he just is not worth the money given he is not really a game breaker and has yet to stay fully fit for a single season of the NRL.
If it came down to offloading him and picking up some of the tab so we could keep someone we need to, say David Fafita, then it's a no-brainer really.

This. injury prone for the last 3 years.
Also he was a bench player for the Blues, not a starting player. How did we sign him up for that ridiculous amount of money? Roberts was on for less but an out and out match winner unlike Glass, sorry Bird.
Let him go, resign Fifita and give the minimum wage guys like Perese a go.
Vudogo could also be in the mix. Since his inclusion at centre for the lowly Magpies, they have won 4 of the last 5 games.

 

[jarro65]

Keep.

 

[Kimlo]

One of our worst ever purchases. For what we're paying him, the return on investment has been absolutely zilch.

That's not say I don't think he can be a good player for us but for all his potential he's done sweet **** all in reality. If another club would take on his full salary, I'd let him go, but if not, we may as well keep him as he is a real competitor and a very good player. If he doesn't play at least 20 games next year, I'd certainly be looking to offload him at any price at that point.

 

[BroncsFan]

One of our worst ever purchases. For what we're paying him, the return on investment has been absolutely zilch.

That's not say I don't think he can be a good player for us but for all his potential he's done sweet **** all in reality. If another club would take on his full salary, I'd let him go, but if not, we may as well keep him as he is a real competitor and a very good player. If he doesn't play at least 20 games next year, I'd certainly be looking to offload him at any price at that point.

I think his last year is yet another player option

I think at that point we just indicate to him you're not getting another contract after that... if you want to take up the option you run the risk of not getting another contract from anyone

 

[tommy]

Keeper. Next year a few things are going to fall into place for us. Bird will be one of them.

 

[mrslong]

Lets not forget that Bird has rheumatoid arthritis as well.

Anyone who knows about this disease, does it make him more injury prone??

 

[Broncapz]

Bird is just one of those player that you're glad is on your team. Not sure what the salary cap situation is with him, so without knowing that I'd love to keep him if the price is right.

1. Milf 2. Oates 3. Staggs 4. Bird 5. Coates 6. ??? 7. Dearden.

Throw that behind our forward pack, and we're going to cook the comp.

 

[Skathen]

Bird is just one of those player that you're glad is on your team. Not sure what the salary cap situation is with him, so without knowing that I'd love to keep him if the price is right.

1. Milf 2. Oates 3. Staggs 4. Bird 5. Coates 6. ??? 7. Dearden.

Throw that behind our forward pack, and we're going to cook the comp.

There-in lies the problem... top 2-3 payed player in the team. Is a good centre who plays 1/3 games worth losing talent like Fafita?

 

[Mr Fourex]

One of our worst ever purchases. For what we're paying him, the return on investment has been absolutely zilch.

That's not say I don't think he can be a good player for us but for all his potential he's done sweet **** all in reality. If another club would take on his full salary, I'd let him go, but if not, we may as well keep him as he is a real competitor and a very good player. If he doesn't play at least 20 games next year, I'd certainly be looking to offload him at any price at that point.

We're currently running with Boyd at 6 and Glenn at 4.....and you think we should get rid of Bird?

We saw some real glimpses of his ability in the early rounds. I'm tipping this is his last serious injury for a while.
Darius is a very good winger.......highest tryscorer for QLD!
Isako is loose as ****.

 

[Super Freak]

If we want to win the premiership, Bird is the type of player we need.

He's had some bad luck with injuries but shit happens. We need to keep him.

Personally I wouldn't be against Bird switching to 5/8 and having Dearden halfback. I think those two could form a very lethal combination.

 

[Huge]

I think this could work, but only if Dearden plays as the first receiving genuine halfback.

Bird would then sit on the right as a second fullback, Boyd hiding at left center and Milf floating around everywhere. A right side of Bird, Gillett, Staggs would be pretty handy.

The only issue I have with it is the potential of Bird crowding that right side and restricting the space and time of Milf... who I think is best when running from left to right.

As it has been since Bird signed we still have no idea where he should play and it still looks like a luxury buy rather than necessity.

If there was an offer for Bird to go back to Sydney I'd be looking to let him go. Fifi is more important to this side than Bird in my eyes.

I wrote that something might happen in the off season as a friend of mine was told by a shire guy with some kind of club connection.

 

[Mr Fourex]

Reads like a solid bit of info.....

 

[Kimlo]

We're currently running with Boyd at 6 and Glenn at 4.....and you think we should get rid of Bird?

We saw some real glimpses of his ability in the early rounds. I'm tipping this is his last serious injury for a while.
Darius is a very good winger.......highest tryscorer for QLD!
Isako is loose as ****.

That's exactly what I think, yes. If we can offload him with no cost to our cap, I would.

If Bird sticks around and actually plays a majority of the season then I may give a **** about him and want to keep him. Right now, he's our worst purchase ever. About 1.5mil for like 10 pretty useless games and a few decent games. There's really not much on the market next year so I would probably wait and reassess then.

If he wanted to leave though, by all means, sign the release form and upgrade Fifita and extend his contract with some of that money.

 

[Gaz]

We bought Scott Prince from Townsville, money then wasn’t what it is today, but he went on to break his leg twice and was injured most of his contract here. We let him go and he never looked back. We should continue to give Bird every chance. He is the type of player we will be looking for in seasons to come.

 

[Nashy]

Birdy will win us a premiership. Keep him. Get rid of the captain if you have to make room.

 

[BroncsFan]

Birdy will win us a premiership. Keep him. Get rid of the captain if you have to make room.

Of course the preference is to be rid of Boyd and Macca first, but that seems very very unlikely. That is literally the only reason I would suggest getting rid of Bird.

If we need cap relief there's other guys I'd rather keep (Fifi and Glenn), and there are other guys I'd prefer to be rid of but if we need cap then Bird appears the easiest to move on.

If we can retain all the guys we need and survive cap wise through to 2021 then we should keep him

 

[pagey]

Let him fly! Is a great player but I think he is keen to head home and could use the cap space. Coates's, Farnsworth and perese to come in .

 

[DigitalDaz]

Bird is the experienced player we need in the backline when Boyd moves on. I'd like to see him in at 5/8 - we can see how well Jack Wighton has gone for Canberra this year - and Bird is a similar size and skill level. Deardon or O'Sullivan and Bird would be a great half combination IMO.