A cheeky Jack Bird says St George Illawarra will regret letting him go, but the Wests Tigers recruit insists he holds no grudges against his old NRL club.
After last month's draw announcement, Bird made haste to circle the Tigers' Magic Round clash with the Dragons, whom the utility says were the primary reason he landed in Concord as part of a bumper recruitment drive.
"The Dragons didn't want me, to start with," Bird said when asked for his motivations for joining the three-time reigning wooden spooners.
"(But) I see a bright future at this club.
"I couldn't give two rats that they've won three wooden spoons, I want to come here and turn that culture around and try and lead it in the right direction."
Bird played mostly in the centres in 2024 but has been training at lock this pre-season.
He expects to bolster a Tigers forward pack also welcoming new recruits Terrell May and Royce Hunt.
Bird has swapped cool Wollongong training conditions for the heat of Sydney's west, where second-year coach Benji Marshall has been running a tight ship in Bird's first three weeks at the club.
"It's been tough but it's warranted," Bird said of his pre-season.
"We've got somewhere in our imagination that we want to go. For us to get there, we have to train hard."
Bird's off-season has also featured a surprise run-in with Dragons coach Shane Flanagan, under whom the utility made his NRL debut and won the 2016 premiership at Cronulla.
The chance encounter brought to mind Bird's exit from the Dragons, who gave him permission to negotiate with rivals despite having a year to run on his contract.
"I told (Flanagan), 'You're going to regret it'. That was just a G up," said a smiling Bird.
Flanagan told the 29-year-old the Dragons forward pack would be raring to face him.
"He reckons he's going to make me make 80 tackles or something. I'll make 30 and come off," Bird said.
"Obviously I'm looking forward to playing against them, but it's still three (sic, five) months away. I'm not going to get too excited now, I'm just going to wait and look forward to the new season."
Bird said he held no ill will towards the Dragons, who took a chance on him after an injury-plagued three years at Brisbane. He went on to play 73 games for the joint-venture club.
"I understand it's a business," Bird said.
"There's no bad blood there, I understood that. I've still got close relationships with the Dragons, obviously 'Flanno', I've played with him for a while.
"I'm looking to the future."
Fellow recruit Hunt will meet his former Cronulla teammates in round eight, with one Sharks forward already promising him a physical encounter.
"A couple of years ago we were playing (NSW) Cup and I ran over Briton Nikora, so he wants his redemption. He said he'll cop six weeks (suspension) for redemption," Hunt said.
