Why would you put Bird at hooker? It's just not going to work.
It is not a long-term fix for sure, it also really may not work. It could be McGuire/Thaiday level bad I agree.
That said, he has played there at origin level (albeit in a utility capacity) and he wants to be more involved. He knows how to pass, he can run and he is big enough to at least get in the way which is basically what Macca does these days anyway.
The suggestion is mostly born out of desperation. I think the side can get away with Macca at 9 so long as he isn't there in clutch moments and pressure time. He just can't handle pressure and this is not a new thing based on last night, he has been doing it his whole career, particularly noticeable since the 2015 GF and highlighted even further in origin last year.
Now I'm typing this post, it would seem a smarter idea to gradually phase Macca out. Leave him at 9 for the rest of the season but decrease his minutes and maybe identify who the side feels could potentially take over later in the season / next year, whether that be Bird, KNik, T.Boyd, Paix, Turpin, whoever the young kids coming through at 9 are and put them on the bench.
The halves are getting such a bad wrap (and some of it very much warranted) but given they are already limited, catching slow passes over the head, behind them, looping down from the second storey, rolling around the ground or just not at all because the ball is going to a forward on the fourth, there isn't much they can do to help cover their own deficiencies.
I realise this post doesn't have much of a connection to where it started.