For a number of months in the off-season the Cronulla Sharks were desperate to re-sign Jack Bird.
And on day one of the Auckland Nines on Saturday, the 20-year-old showed everyone why.
Bird was the star for Cronulla as they won their opening two games in Pool Piha, including a controversial 17-8 victory over local rivals St George Illawarra.
Cronulla lead 10-8 at half-time thanks to excellent individual efforts from Chad Townsend and Ben Barba, before the Dragons looked to have scored a late five-point bonus zone try through Kalifa Faifai Loa.
The winger dived for the blue zone and grounded the ball but match officials incorrectly ruled he had been bundled over the dead ball line.
It was from there that Bird sealed victory for Cronulla, drawing two defenders before slipping centre Gerard Beale away to hand the Sharks a nine-point win.
Bird threatened in attack all afternoon and continued his excellent Nines form from last season when he finished as the competition’s leading try scorer.
Townsend, who returned to the club from a stint with the New Zealand Warriors this season, paid tribute to the performances of Bird and Barba and said the Sharks were aiming to bring the trophy back to the shire.
“I’d like to [go one better than last year],” he said.
“The boys had a bit of success here last year and we’d like to go one better, that’s the goal.
“They’re quality players [Bird and Barba] and my job is to get them quality ball.
“So far we’re two from two and hopefully we can get a bit of a roll on tomorrow.”
Earlier, St George Illawarra began their Nines campaign with a 28-20 loss to Canberra.
It was one of the most open games of day one as both teams traded tries for most of the contest.
Cronulla won their first game 23-12 over the Gold Coast.
Sharks captain Chris Heighington said the win over the Titans was the perfect way to start the tournament.
“We made a few errors early, we just wanted to hold the possession but it didn’t go that way,” he said.
“It’s a good first game, we won by a few points [and] the Titans are a strong team.”
Gold Coast won the final Pool Piha game 26-15 over Canberra, meaning if the Dragons can win their final group game against the Titans and the Sharks defeat the Raiders, they could still qualify for the quarter-finals.
St George Illawarra will play the Gold Coast at 11.05am on Sunday morning in their final group game before Cronulla round out the tournament group stage with a clash against Canberra.
Sharks fans will be hopeful that Cronulla, the 2015 runners-up, can go one better this season.
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