Bird won’t be flying the coop, insists Broncos coach
WAYNE Bennett has confirmed Jack Bird will be honouring his four-year deal with the Broncos amid speculation the Sharks sensation could backflip and remain at Cronulla.
The Broncos and Sharks come face to face at Suncorp Stadium tonight.
“All this innuendo has been happening all season with us,” Bennett said.
“Anything to do with the Broncos makes a bigger headline than anything else and people have more theories on it than most other things in the game.
“It goes with the territory unfortunately. It started at the beginning of the season with me (allegedly losing the support of Broncos players) and it’s continued ever since.
“Now it’s Jack Bird isn’t coming to the Broncos.
“Jack Bird is coming to the Broncos. Full stop.”
Sharks coach Shane Flanagan hit back over the Broncos’ claims that Bird was unhappy at Cronulla and has been treated poorly since he announced he was leaving for Brisbane next season.
“I couldn’t give a damn about what Wayne says. Seriously. We look after (Bird), whatever he (Bennett) says I don’t read or listen to it.
“Let’s be clear: Jack is going to Brisbane.”
Bennett, meanwhile, has held a heart-to-heart with his forwards as the Broncos coach challenged his big-name stars to stand up to a Cronulla pack led by NSW enforcer Andrew Fifita.
The importance of the top-four clash at Suncorp Stadium was underlined when Bennett summoned his pack for an on-field meeting at the conclusion of Brisbane’s captain’s run at Red Hill.
Bennett was in deep discussion for almost five minutes as 10 Broncos players stood around him in a tight-knit circle. The group included starting forwards Adam Blair, Ben Hunt, Korbin Sims, Matt Gillett, Alex Glenn and Josh McGuire, plus interchange players Sam Thaiday, Tevita Pangai Jnr, Jai Arrow and Herman Ese’ese.
“I was telling them what a beautiful day it was. I didn’t want them to come inside,” Bennett quipped when asked about the forwards-only meeting.
“The Sharks are a challenge and a good football team. They won the premiership (last season) and they are still in this year’s competition.”
“They are not out of it (the premiership race) by any stretch of the imagination.”