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Rejuvenated Bird back to his best after taking 'hard road'
March 23, 2019
Broncos centre Jack Bird has opened about how he went from "rock bottom" to playing one of the best NRL matches of his 76-game career against the Cowboys, and the mindset that got him smiling again.
Bird's 103m from 13 runs, three line-break assists and two try assists in the 29-10 win over the Cowboys tell one story. The verve, speed and general confidence of his display tell another after overcoming a 2018 season that threatened to break him.
Bird said he felt "99 per cent better" within himself this year compared to last season, in an indication of how down he was.
"Last year was just a write-off for me," Bird said.
"I came up here with a shoulder reco’ and then had sternum surgery. It didn't go to plan," Bird said.
"I knew it was going to be a long, hard road but I had to get that out of my head and start the year fresh … and forget about everything that happened last year because that's the past.
"I can't reminisce on last year because that will just bring me down. I have to think positive.
"That [win over the Cowboys] is one of the best games I have played personally in my opinion. I just felt good out there, and before the game I was confident in myself and I took that onto the footy paddock. In the last couple of years I haven't played much footy, so it is just good to be back."
When Bird signed for the Broncos on a three-year deal understood to be in the region of $2.5 million it was on the back of a stellar 2016 season with the Sharks where he was integral to the club's maiden premiership.
He also played five consecutive State of Origin games in 2016 and 2017 and was regarded as one of the game's hottest properties.
After recovering from shoulder surgery, Bird started pre-season contact late and was always off the pace in 2018 where the Broncos struggled to settle on whether his best position in the side was centre or in the halves.
After playing just eight rounds, and being below his best, a sternum injury and subsequent surgery ended his season.
In the background at Brisbane had been the suspicion among supporters that perhaps the club had made a mistake in signing Bird. Would he ever deliver?
His performances in the opening two rounds of 2019 have buoyed Bird and dispelled those concerns.
The 24-year-old revealed he was aware of the doubters in the background.
"That never went away. There was always a little bit of doubt there whether I was good enough or if I was as good as I was," Bird said.
"There was that doubt there, but I always knew I had the skills and the footy brain. It was just a confidence thing and once I got my confidence back I knew I was going to play good footy again."
Bird said rock bottom for him last year arrived when it dawned on him that he had to sit out the season.
"I didn't come up here not to play," he said.
"Being away from family … it was just all hard. It was rock bottom [in 2018] ever since I got here. I held myself together and tried being strong and knew I'd get through it, and here I am now."
The combination of Bird and Corey Oates on the left is starting to work a treat with the former Shark setting up his winger for three of the four tries he has scored in the opening two rounds.
"Me and Oatesy get on well off the field which helps on the field," hesaid.
"We've been training well together all pre-season. I told Seibs I was happy to play left side, and switch from the right, and I am feeling comfortable.
"Hopefully each week I can keep getting better with Oatesy and we can build a lethal left edge. I've been practising a lot on the right to left pass with Oatesy and it is working in the games."
Every step of Bird's last year appeared to be a struggle but this season he appears lighter on his feet and is moving across the ground quicker and with more agility.
"I have always had footwork," he said.
"It is just a confidence thing."
Source: NRL.com
