Jack Bird to undergo knee surgery as St George Illawarra Dragons' injury woes deepen
Still some four weeks out from the start of the NRL season, the St George Illawarra Dragons are already facing a halves crisis with up to three candidates for the No.6 jersey potentially unavailable.
Talatau 'Junior' Amone was suspended by league bosses last month through the no-fault stand-down policy, while another star up-and-comer in Jayden Sullivan is also battling a hamstring injury.
Now, Jack Bird - the third man in line to fill the slot - is himself in a race against the clock to be fit after picking up a meniscus injury at training.
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He will undergo surgery on Friday.
The Dragons injury headache is further deepened with young gun Cody Ramsey to miss the entire season with illness.
Jack Bird of the Dragons. Hamish Blair/NRL Imagery
Bird told Nine he was doing some extra kicking after training when he felt "[his] knee click a little bit on the inside".
He said the surgery was "just a little procedure" with an expected recovery time of four to six weeks.
He said before suffering the injury he was "confident and comfortable" with the prospect of playing at five-eighth.
"Not many people might think I'm a five-eighth, but I've got to do what's best for the team, and if that's for me to play five-eighth then I guess I'll do that," he said.
Scheduling is on the Dragons' side, though; they have the round one bye, before getting their season underway against the Titans at Kogarah in round two.
Bird said he had been hating the idea of starting the season with a bye, but was now thankful for the extra week off.
"Before I did this I was off it; I wanted to play round one," he said.
Junior Amone was suspended by the NRL under the no-fault stand-down policy. Mark Kolbe/Getty Images
"But now that I've done this ... if it was going to go by just kicking a football, it was going to go.
"So when you think about it, it was probably the right timing for it to happen."
Bird has played in just about every position throughout his NRL career, and indeed played five-eighth throughout his debut season for Cronulla in 2015.
"I really enjoyed it then. Then I moved to the centres. I've played a lot of positions in my time."
Former Storm and Broncos halfback Brodie Croft was in discussions to be Amone's replacement, but Dragons bosses have baulked at the massive transfer fee put on his head.
According to The Sydney Morning Herald, Super League side Salford demanded a fee of close to $250,000, which Dragons bosses are reluctant to fund.
Brodie Croft in action for the Broncos. Getty
Croft made 12 appearances for the Broncos in 2021, before heading to the motherland. He has made 28 appearances for the Red Devils, who finished sixth and were knocked out in the semi-finals against eventual premiers St Helens.
Moses Mbye is another Dragon who has played in the halves at some point in his NRL career.
The Dragons will contest South Sydney for the Charity Shield in Mudgee on February 18.
Amone will face court on March 1, the day before the NRL season gets underway in a clash between the Eels and Storm at CommBank Stadium.
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