St George Illawarra Dragons utility Jack Bird has played his last game for the club, with the 29-year-old confirming he will join the Wests Tigers in 2025.
It was reported during the week that the Tigers had locked in the signature of Bird, who has requested a release from the Dragons after earlier taking up a player option.
Dragons' head coach Shane Flanagan is still in the process of revamping his squad for 2025, and will not stand in Bird's way, with it understood Mikaele Ravalawa and Blake Lawrie are among the other players who have been told they are free to head for the exit gates in Wollongong.
Bird is understood to have signed a two-year deal with the Tigers, and confirmed as much when speaking with News Corp on Saturday as he missed the final game of the season with an injury for the Red V.
โI still think that I've got some good footy left in me and I like the way the Tigers are heading," Bird told the publication.
โI'm looking forward to going there and helping change their culture a bit and get them back into the finals.
โI want to challenge myself. I'm probably going to have a bigger role than any previous role I've had at a club.
โThey've signed some great players and they've bought me for a reason to show the younger guys how to train and how to win."
Bird revealed a lack of job security forced his hand to look for a way out of the Dragons. His player option for 2025 wasn't added to in contract length, and the utility spent a chunk of the second half of this season in reserve grade after failing to win his spot in first-grade back from an injury lay-off.
โI spoke to Flanno (Shane Flanagan) and he understands. He said he just wouldn't have known until next year if there was a contract for me and I understand that," Bird said.
โI love the club, I love the boys, I'm going to miss everyone for sure. There's no bad blood whatsoever and I'm leaving on good terms."
While Bird suggested he is not going to the Tigers as a final contract and wants to play on beyond the end of 2026, attention will now turn to the Dragons who gain another roster spot out of Bird's departure.
A capitulation over the final month of the season with losses to the Canterbury Bulldogs, Cronulla Sharks and Canberra Raiders on Saturday ensures the Dragons miss the finals after at one point looking a shoe-in.
The finals loss will sting for the Red V, however, most had the club as pre-season favourites for the wooden spoon, and there is now a consensus that they are well ahead of schedule in Shane Flanagan's rebuild.
Speaking during the post-game press conference after the loss to Canberra though, Flanagan admitted he is not finished with signing new players, and wants two more middle forwards.
He had previously confirmed he wanted to add one to the middle of the park, but now wants a second, with the club recently tied to Daniel Saifiti, Reagan Campbell-Gillard and Corey Horsburgh, although Flanagan revealed he is yet to speak to the one-time Queensland Origin prop.
โWe need some middles, yep. I'm trying to get two middles to add to our team and you know what the off-season is like,โ Flanagan said during his post-game press conference.
โThere's a bit of change and some things you don't see coming or don't know about at the moment. I will be looking to make sure I recruit in that style of player.
โTough, resilient, winner... we haven't had a chat with Corey (Horsburgh), there's been a lot of speculation, we haven't chatted with Corey yet.
โNow that the season is over, take a breath and then jump into what next season looks like.โ
Flanagan, who has all but been confirmed to have signed Campbell-Gillard from the Parramatta Eels to a two-year deal, admitted he has work to do with his squad, and that the already signed duo of Damien Cook and Valentine Holmes will help.
โI've got a lot of work to do, I have. I need to instil that in them, that hard-nosed rugby league team, that's my job in the off-season,โ Flanagan said.
โWe have got to get some of those players in, I know Damien is that type of player, Damien Cook. I know Val (Holmes) has been that type of player.
โSo I will get them in and add some more, I've been around long enough to know you don't win football games if you don't respect the football."
