Under-fire Broncos recruit Jack Bird eyes return for Brisbane

[Foordy]

Under-fire Broncos recruit Jack Bird eyes return for Brisbane

PETER BADEL, EXCLUSIVE, The Courier-Mail
August 12, 2018 7:00pm

JACK Bird is eyeing a shock finals comeback with scans today to determine whether the Broncos will gamble on their under-fire $800,000 recruit in a desperate bid to reignite their season.

The Courier-Mail can reveal Bird is sweating on a medical clearance to return to the training paddock in the lead-up to Thursday night’s blockbuster against South Sydney at Suncorp Stadium.

Bird has been derided as the big-money flop of the season but he is in good spirits following sternum surgery, being pain-free for the first time in almost a year.

Broncos high-performance chief Jeremy Hickmans indicated Bird’s return on the eve of the playoffs is a possibility, but said results of scans on Monday would ultimately determine his fate.

The Broncos crashed to eighth following their Queensland derby loss to the Cowboys and need all hands on deck to stay in the finals race against the rampaging Rabbitohs.

Bird was expected to miss the rest of the season after undergoing surgery in June on a sternum problem that plagued him for nine months dating back to his stint at former club Cronulla.

But the marquee recruit has recovered well from the operation and is hoping to get the green light to return this season. The former NSW Origin utility could resume training this week with a view to being considered for selection for Brisbane’s Round 24 clash against the Roosters on Saturday week.

Bird has had a horror maiden year at Red Hill, with his eight games for the Broncos book ended by two operations, including a shoulder reconstruction last November.

But with the Broncos reeling from back-to-back losses to the lowly Bulldogs and North Queensland, they are craving the type of matchwinning brilliance Bird provided in his 2016 premiership season at the Sharks.

Bird will consult Broncos medicos in the coming days to assess whether he would not be risking fresh damage by returning in time for the playoffs.

The 23-year-old is one of just three Broncos who boast premiership rings — the others are Sam Thaiday and Darius Boyd — and his big-game experience could be handy if Brisbane qualify for the finals.

Broncos winger Corey Oates said recently Brisbane teammates had rallied around Bird amid speculation he would seek a release to return to Sydney.

“It has been a really tough time for Jack,” Oates said.

“Jack is a good fella and a real larrikin. There’s no issue with the boys, he’s fitted in well here, it’s just the injuries that are affecting him.

“He’s been getting hammered for his form, but in fairness Jack didn’t get to train with us in pre-season. The pressure has built up for him and that hasn’t helped.”

Source: Courier Mail

 

[I bleed Maroon]

Is that photo recent? Because FMD....

 

[Foordy]

Given the painful injuries he has had, it is understandable why his form has been down this season.

it is definitely great that he is keen to get back on the field for us, and now that he is pain free, he will make some people eat their words IMO.

I would be tempted to sit him for the year though get him back fresh with a full pre-season under his belt, although we could use his talents on the field right now

 

[Foordy]

Is that photo recent? Because FMD....

fucked if i know, the media could be using a photo from day one or yesterday. if you look at his sternum area, it does look like he has something on under his shirt (a protective pad maybe)

 

[Jason Simmons]

Given the painful injuries he has had, it is understandable why his form has been down this season.

it is definitely great that he is keen to get back on the field for us, and now that he is pain free, he will make some people eat their words IMO.

I would be tempted to sit him for the year though get him back fresh with a full pre-season under his belt, although we could use his talents on the field right now

I have no difficulty in believing he could make people eat...

I do not ever recall seeing so many obviously overweight ‘athletes’ in my life as the current crop of Broncos.

Bird wasn’t overweight when he played for the Sharks.

Milford wasn’t overweight at the Raiders.

Sam? Well...

There are players in our club that are clearly fit, strong and lean by NRL standards. Clearly they take pride in their physical preparation.

And there are players in our club that clearly do not and there are no apparent repercussions for that...

 

[Cult]

I have no difficulty in believing he could make people eat...

I do not ever recall seeing so many obviously overweight ‘athletes’ in my life as the current crop of Broncos.

Bird wasn’t overweight when he played for the Sharks.

Milford wasn’t overweight at the Raiders.

Sam? Well...

There are players in our club that are clearly fit, strong and lean by NRL standards. Clearly they take pride in their physical preparation.

And there are players in our club that clearly do not and there are no apparent repercussions for that...

Any rugby team in existence. Any NFL team as well. Also the Parramatta Eels from any year over the last two decades. Sweeping statements like that ruin arguments. How has everyone blocked out the Griffin years so easily? I am legitimately curious because it still haunts me

 

[theshed]

I have no difficulty in believing he could make people eat...

I do not ever recall seeing so many obviously overweight ‘athletes’ in my life as the current crop of Broncos.

Bird wasn’t overweight when he played for the Sharks.

Milford wasn’t overweight at the Raiders.

Sam? Well...

There are players in our club that are clearly fit, strong and lean by NRL standards. Clearly they take pride in their physical preparation.

And there are players in our club that clearly do not and there are no apparent repercussions for that...

The weight thing is a bit silly in my opinion. Some people are naturally
more muscular than others.

Not every player is a Sonny Bill or Burgess who walks around at 115kg of ripped muscle.

A guy like Milf, if he wasn’t an NRL player would probably walk around at like 75-80kg naturally. For him to put on 15 kilos of lean muscle while also focusing on skill training and game prep most of the year would take such an incredible amount of time. It could take literally half his career to find 15 kegs of lean muscle with his NRL schedule, training, and inevitable injury set backs.

So would he rather be shredded and far too light to hold his own against 100kg players, being ragdoled in defence and attack, or lose a few millisecond of pace over 10m after packing on more mass?

From my experience, as a naturally slim guy playing against much bigger men, I was far more comfortable on the footy field once i traded in the 6 pack for a little more sponge. It made me feel far more effective during contact, even if I did lose a second of pace over 100m.


That being said, Jack Bird has the rig of a kebab shop worker.

 

[Jason Simmons]

The weight thing is a bit silly in my opinion. Some people are naturally
more muscular than others.

Not every player is a Sonny Bill or Burgess who walks around at 115kg of ripped muscle.

A guy like Milf, if he wasn’t an NRL player would probably walk around at like 75-80kg naturally. For him to put on 15 kilos of lean muscle while also focusing on skill training and game prep most of the year would take such an incredible amount of time. It could take literally half his career to find 15 kegs of lean muscle with his NRL schedule, training, and inevitable injury set backs.

So would he rather be shredded and far too light to hold his own against 100kg players, being ragdoled in defence and attack, or lose a few millisecond of pace over 10m after packing on more mass?

From my experience, as a naturally slim guy playing against much bigger men, I was far more comfortable on the footy field once i traded in the 6 pack for a little more sponge. It made me feel far more effective during contact, even if I did lose a second of pace over 100m.


That being said, Jack Bird has the rig of a kebab shop worker.

Look at TPJ go in the gym. Do you need to have his physique and natural gifts to succeed in the NRL?

Nope. But you do need to train like him.

But you and I aren’t talking about you and I. We are talking about allegedly professional athletes. Blokes who train twice daily. They train early in the morning, have a few hours break and come back and train again in the afternoon.

Blokes whose job it is to prepare themselves to their utmost ability to play an athletic sport.

Now I am a fairly lean fella myself. I’m in my early 40’s and my sport playing days are far behind me. Yet I train and I run. Not twice a day but very often. I can still run a half marathon in sub 1hr 40’s without trying too hard. I often run as a pace setter for friends of mine who want to do those sorts of times. When I push myself for an event, I run 21 kays well under 90 minutes. I hope to get back to sub-80 minutes one day, but we will see if these old legs and mindset will get me there...

I can routinely do 5k runs in under 20 minutes, under 18 if I train for an event and the last time I did the beep test, I got to 13 before they stopped the timer due to boredom. I am 182cms (6 foot or thereabouts) and run at about 88-90 kegs, depending on my training goals.

I work shift work fulltime and I am an asthmatic. Have been my whole life. I don’t get to train like a professional athlete, so I don’t win many races. I have won the odd park-run here and there, which keeps me happy.

I do however work as hard as I can when I get my chance to train. But I am not a professional and I do it for free / me. Not for $1m or so per year. So forgive me if I don’t have much patience for the bleating of those who do about why they can’t at least LOOK like a professional athlete, let alone play like one... Forgive me if I don’t have much patience for these blokes enjoying their free McDonalds cards or the odd (or not so odd) fizzy cola drink...

I don’t hear many excuses from or about those who do look like professional athletes. Players like Boyd, TPJ, Isaako, McGuire and so on. But I do hear plenty from / about those don’t and those who we are currently playing really big bucks to...

Funny how we never seem to hear or see these same issues with Storm or Roosters players... Or just about any other top team, come to think of it...

 

[theshed]

Look at TPJ go in the gym. Do you need to have his physique and natural gifts to succeed in the NRL?

Nope. But you do need to train like him.

But you and I aren’t talking about you and I. We are talking about allegedly professional athletes. Blokes who train twice daily. They train early in the morning, have a few hours break and come back and train again in the afternoon.

Blokes whose job it is to prepare themselves to their utmost ability to play an athletic sport.

Now I am a fairly lean fella myself. I’m in my early 40’s and my sport playing days are far behind me. Yet I train and I run. Not twice a day but very often. I can still run a half marathon in sub 1hr 40’s without trying too hard. I often run as a pace setter for friends of mine who want to do those sorts of times. When I push myself for an event, I run 21 kays well under 90 minutes. I hope to get back to sub-80 minutes one day, but we will see if these old legs and mindset will get me there...

I can routinely do 5k runs in under 20 minutes, under 18 if I train for an event and the last time I did the beep test, I got to 13 before they stopped the timer due to boredom. I am 182cms (6 foot or thereabouts) and run at about 88-90 kegs, depending on my training goals.

I work shift work fulltime and I am an asthmatic. Have been my whole life. I don’t get to train like a professional athlete, so I don’t win many races. I have won the odd park-run here and there, which keeps me happy.

I do however work as hard as I can when I get my chance to train. But I am not a professional and I do it for free / me. Not for $1m or so per year. So forgive me if I don’t have much patience for the bleating of those who do about why they can’t at least LOOK like a professional athlete, let alone play like one... Forgive me if I don’t have much patience for these blokes enjoying their free McDonalds cards or the odd (or not so odd) fizzy cola drink...

I don’t hear many excuses from or about those who do look like professional athletes. Players like Boyd, TPJ, Isaako, McGuire and so on. But I do hear plenty from / about those don’t and those who we are currently playing really big bucks to...

Funny how we never seem to hear or see these same issues with Storm or Roosters players... Or just about any other top team, come to think of it...

I’m definitely not saying that he couldn’t do a better job of it.

If you’re 88-90kg of lean muscle at 6ft, 40 years old, and performance enhancing drugs aren’t a factor than you are in incredible shape. You would have to be one of the more physically exposing figures in most rooms you enter.

 

[Jedhead]

I have nothing to substantiate my thoughts, but it seems to me that Jack is watching things go to shit with the team and feels he owes it to Benny to be on the park to try and help rectify things. Standing on the sidelines seeing the young colts crying out for leadership must be hurting him more than the sternum injury. I'm still not truly sold on his worth to us,but the fact he wants to contribute despite his horror run of injuries tells me he's a competitor and may well turn out to be a huge asset when fully fit.

 

[Astro]

I’m definitely not saying that he couldn’t do a better job of it.

If you’re 88-90kg of lean muscle at 6ft, 40 years old, and performance enhancing drugs aren’t a factor than you are in incredible shape. You would have to be one of the more physically exposing figures in most rooms you enter.

I think you meant imposing. Although if he was exposing its easy to see how he’s getting those park run wins.

 

[BroncsFan]

fucked if i know, the media could be using a photo from day one or yesterday. if you look at his sternum area, it does look like he has something on under his shirt (a protective pad maybe)

Bennett wearing a T-shirt in the photo... almost every footage they have of recent training sessions he has a vest on so the photo might be old

 

[Huge]

Birds wearing a sternum protector and I can't for the life of me see what's wrong with the photo of Bird. What's he supposed to look like ? I mean what should it be, much bigger, smaller what ?

 

[Morkel]

Bennett earlier in the year said that Bird can't just jump straight back in to grade after such a long layoff. Wouldn't be surprised if he has a game in Q Cup first, or gets a 20 minute stint off the bench.

 

[theshed]

I think you meant imposing. Although if he was exposing its easy to see how he’s getting those park run wins.

Hahah ****

 

[Jason Simmons]

I think you meant imposing. Although if he was exposing its easy to see how he’s getting those park run wins.

Yep, I do the ‘helicopter’ the whole way... Lol

 

[Nashy]

I reckon the nutritionists in the club are better than us at this whole weight thing.

 

[Harry Sack]

Yep, I do the ‘helicopter’ the whole way... Lol

Always a crowd pleaser.....in the right crowd anyway. Fuckin cranky nuns