Bird, Tigers work through roadblock to get negotiations back on track

Jack Bird and the Wests Tigers have re-opened negotiations for a multi-year contract after the veteran originally walked away from the Concord club because they couldn’t get close enough to a deal on pay.

Bird, 29, toured the Tigers’ centre of excellence in Concord this week as the two parties reopened talks, with the disparity in pay apparently all but resolved by both sides.

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There is still a sticking point the Tigers are going to have to overcome if they want to add the veteran utility to their team: They have repetitively tabled two-year offers for the 29-year-old, while Bird wants to secure a longer deal if he’s going to be walking away from Shane Flanagan and the St George Illawarra Dragons a year early.

Cash-wise, the Bird and the Tigers seem to have settled on a hair over $500,000.

On the Dragons side, it’s understood the club won’t stand in Bird’s way if he wants to take up an offer to play elsewhere in 2025. He is contracted for another 12 months after the end of this NRL campaign but has been told by St George officials there’s no room in the salary cap for him beyond that.

Perhaps the biggest reason the Tigers have been chasing Bird, beyond the fact he’s been a proven winner in the past with the Cronulla Sharks and in the New South Wales Blues outfit, is that he knows a variety of positions well. Benji Marshall wants to use that experience and have Bird tutor some of the younger Tigers coming through the ranks.

It is worth remembering nothing’s signed yet but from the sounds of things The Sporting Base would expect it to come down to crossing Ts and dotting Is soon enough. Whether Bird bends on the longer deal or the Tigers add extra years will be the final tipping point.

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Other Dragons who’ve been told their surplus to requirements include Blake Lawrie and Mikaele Ravalawa. Twin centre Max Feagai has also been told he can leave the Red V at the end of the season.