Former NRL journeyman Jack Bird became a Leeds Rhinos fan favourite over the weekend after impressing the Headingley faithful on his home debut.
Bird, after featuring for 15 minutes in his first appearance away at Hull FC, was named in the centres in place of Harry Newman, with Brad Arthur explaining his reasoning for that switch post-match.
The 31-year-old, despite making a few errors in his opening moments, the former Wests Tigers man put in an astute performance in victory over Warrington Wolves and scored one of Leeds’ five tries on the afternoon.
Making 22 tackles and running for 121 metres, Bird was pleased with how his first full 80 in new colours went, and hopes he can now kick on after a hectic opening month at the club.
“We knew they were going to come out tough and be a tough team to beat,” he revealed post-match. “We needed a change of attitude [after the Hull FC defeat] at training. The weather wasn’t really kind to us in the first half, but that was a tough, gritty win for us.
“I couldn’t have asked for a better start, obviously with my career here at Leeds and at home in front of the home crowd. If we can keep doing that each week, we’ll turn a lot of teams away.”
Explaining how he has found settling into Yorkshire, he said: “It was a bit hard. I’m still a little bit heavy, but I’m feeling good, to be fair.”
“I came over here from Australia and it was a big move. I wasn’t expecting to play straight away. I was a bit out of shape, wasn’t fit enough.
“I knew I had to bide my time and earn my position. I didn’t want to come over here and just step into someone’s shoes I wanted to earn it.”
Leeds are just seven points below Wigan in having the best attack in the league, and have averaged over 30 points in their first six matches. Fijian winger Maika Sivo is responsible for 48 of those as Sunday’s game saw him cross for his 10th, 11th and 12th try of the league season.
“He’s a big man. He’s a try-scoring freak,” Bird said on his in-form teammate. I think he’s scored 12 tries in Super League. That’s more than I have in one whole year so he knows how to find the line. I’m glad he’s on our team.”
Leeds Rhinos man gives verdict on Wakefield Trinity’s major NRL signing
Bird is contracted to Leeds for the remainder of 2026 and 2027, meaning next season he will come up against one of the best New Zealand rugby league players of this generation when Roger Tuivasa-Sheck lines up for Wakefield.
In a signing that took almost everyone by surprise, not least Trinity fans, ‘RTS’ will undoubtedly have a target on his back next season given his stature in the game and his ability to influence games with his talent.
The Leeds man gave his verdict on his future opponent, and how his move over will be great for the Northern Hemisphere competition.
He said: “That’s a great signing for Wakefield. He’s a great player. It caught me by surprise, but good for him.
“I’m happy for him. We’re getting older, so we’ve got to try and find a little bit more game time in our legs. It’s a great sign for them, and it’s a great signing for Super League.
“I’m really looking forward to coming up against him next year. We’ll just wait until then, it’s still a while away, but good for Wakefield and good for the Super League in general.”
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