Jack Bird has given a damning assessment of his time at the Brisbane Broncos, claiming that the club "didn't care about him" and plunged into a spiral after Wayne Bennett left.<\/p>\n
Bird, who has joined the Dragons, endured an injury-riddled three-year stint in Brisbane. The 25-year-old played just 17 games, having copped two ACL ruptures.<\/p>\n
Bird became a target for frustrated Broncos fans and said the he was left "feeling like a failure in life". He said that the club became unsupportive near the end of his time there.<\/p>\n
"At the end, I felt like a burden there. Like I was just there for the sake of it," Bird told The Daily Telegraph.<\/p>\n
"I felt like they weren't putting their time and effort into me, my rehab. I felt like I was just another number … they were pushing me to the side, they didn't care about me.<\/p>\n
"So in the end, I knew if I wanted to get back to my best I had to move. Go to someone who was willing to put their time and effort into me getting back to my best."<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Bird has been tipped to play at lock for the Dragons. He was a 2016 premiership winner at Cronulla and played State of Origin for NSW.<\/p>\n
He is aiming to regain his best form, saying that Bennett's departure soured his time at the Broncos from the outset.<\/p>\n
"When Wayne left, everything went south," Bird said. "If he wasn't coach, I wouldn't have went there. I would've gone somewhere else or stayed at Cronulla."<\/p>\n
Bird said that he was finally enjoying football again, amid pre-season with St George Illawarra.<\/p>\n
He said that although new Dragons coach Anthony Griffin was viewing him as a lock, playing at five-eighth or centre were still options.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"