St George Illawarra Dragons head coach Shane Flanagan has praised Jack Bird's return to first grade in the joint venture's victory over the Gold Coast Titans on Sunday afternoon.
Played in a windy Wollongong, Bird was called back into first grade at five-eighth to replace Kyle Flanagan, who has been suspended for the final four weeks of the regular season over a bite on Canterbury Bulldogs' captain Stephen Crichton in last week's loss.
Bird's return - having played centre early in the season, then suffering an injury before being banished to reserve grade - saw him form a strong combination in the halves alongside Ben Hunt as the Dragons put 32 points on the Gold Coast.
Coach Flanagan said Bird did his job and proved he was a "competitor" throughout the game.
"Did his job. He came up with a couple of crucial defensive saves, some loose balls, kicks in the in-goal, found himself in the right position. Birdy is a competitor, and that's what we know we are going to get out of him," Flanagan said on Bird during his post-match press conference.
In what was a topsy-turvy encounter, the Dragons let in a try with the Titans' first touch of the game, before dominating the first half with the wind at their backs.
While it was an impressive display of attack for the Red V, Flanagan said it was the second half and the club's resilience which saw them over the line.
"I thought we attacked pretty well and controlled the game pretty well in the first half. I thought we were patient, and then when opportunities presented themselves we took them. In saying that, I thought our second half was pretty good as well," Flanagan said.
"There was a strong wind and we had every reason to fold, but we showed some real resilience to turn them away. We couldn't get a penalty until late in that half when Ben [Hunt] got hit high.
"We were coming a metre off our tryline every set and then kicking into the wind every set, so I thought the second half was equally as good as the first half, but in a different style.
"They were 26 from 26, and I think we were 13 from 13 [completions in the second half], so they had twice as much ball in the second half but they used it really well. We had to be good as well, if we made errors in the 13 or so sets that we had, the scoreboard would have looked very different."
Captain Ben Hunt agreed, saying it was the second half which made all the difference as the Dragons were forced to defend their time and time again into the wind.
"It was definitely the second half that impressed me. Not sure what the completion rate was, but it didn't feel like there was any errors by anyone in that second half, and they threw a lot at us. I think it's a good sign that we stood up and defended it," Hunt said.
"It's up to us to go and get it now. We have given ourselves a shot to play finals footy and that's all you can ask for given where we came from last year so it's up to us to go and get it."
The Dragons will now turn their attention to the Cronulla Sharks, with the Parramatta Eels and Canberra Raiders then waiting over the final three weeks of the season.
Given their for and against, there is a scenario where all three wins may still be needed to play finals rugby league, but it's more likely two, or even one victory could be enough for the Red V to play September rugby league for the first time since 2018.
