The St George Illawarra Dragons have given permission for Jack Bird to head for the exit gates, and it appears the Wests Tigers might be the club to make a play for his services.
Bird, who is technically off-contract at the end of 2025 but has a player option in his deal for next year, could leave the club at the end of this season.
The utility was at one point rumoured to have accepted his player option for next year, but now it's understood he has backflipped on that call and has no commitment to remain at the Dragons, with the club agreeing to the request.
News Corp are reporting the Wests Tigers are the club who will make a play for Bird.
Shane Flanagan has made it all but clear that he will not force players - particularly those who are underperforming - to remain at the Dragons as he rebuilds the joint-venture. Zac Lomax was released earlier this year, and Bird's backflip over his commitment to the club for 2025 came after he has spent time in reserve grade during recent weeks.
An injury derailed his season, and Bird was only recalled to the NRL side at five-eighth for last week's game against the Gold Coast Titans.
A strong performance has seen him retain the suspended Kyle Flanagan's number six jersey for this week's clash against the Cronulla Sharks at what is likely to be a sold out WIN Stadium in Wollongong.
The rumoured interest from the Tigers comes after Benji Marshall admitted this week that the club is looking to use their final roster spots and salary cap space on experienced players.
"I think we have a good batch of young blokes coming through, and what we probably need is some experience around that," Marshall said at his coaches media conference yesterday prior to Thursday night's game against the Manly Sea Eagles.
The joint-venture have already signed Jarome Luai, Sunia Turuva and Jeral Skelton for next season, but at this stage lack the experience Bird would bring, with the former Shark, Bronco and Origin player having 154 NRL games under his belt dating back to his 2015 debut.
