Like most of his teammates and rivals on Wednesday night, Bird was a dominant player in his junior days.

But, preparing to start at five-eighth for the Blues against Queensland on Wednesday night, it was the one grand final defeat which says the most about his character.

“I think it was the under 12’s, he’d had really bad tonsillitis,” junior coach David Baker said. “There’s no way he should have played, but he was a pretty determined kid. Berkeley had been the dominant team all year and Jack had been a big reason for that.

“Jack had won grand finals every year, playing in higher age groups, but even though they lost, just for him to play that day said a lot about him.”

Bird was such a young talent, he forced an extraordinary board meeting at Western Suburbs, after moving to the Red Devils when Berkeley failed to field a team.

Wests had a strict policy against allowing junior to play in higher grades, but the vote narrowly went in favour of making Bird an exception.

He won the under 15 and 16 premierships, winning man of the match on each occasion. The two clubs joined forces to raise money for medication to overcome his well-publicised battle with rheumatoid arthritis, paving the way for an NRL career.

Fast forward and Bird is part of a Cronulla team which has won 13 in a row, chasing the club’s first ever title.

Having spent his junior days at lock or five-eighth, Bird has played in the centres for the Sharks.

The 21-year-old debuted in the NRL last year, representing Country Origin, before being called into the NSW squad as a development player for game one.

The remarkable path continued when Bird was called on to the bench for game two, making an impact in the second half as the Blues tried to keep the series alive.

NSW may have lost nine of the past 10 series, but Bird is only looking to the future, after being selected to start in the No.6 jersey, replacing injured Souths playmaker Adam Reynolds in the halves.

Illawarra junior league administrator Steve Nielsen has no doubt Bird will handle the occasion, even against one of the greatest teams of all time.

“When he was 13 we brought him to train with the (Steelers) Harold Matts (under 16 representative squad),” he said. “He wasn’t eligible to play, but it’s how highly we thought of him.

“He’s never been scared of the challenge.”

The Blues have struggled to find a consistent halves combination during the dark decade without any lasting success. Bird emerges as the youngest NSW five-eighth since Braith Anasta. 

After initial hesitation, coach Laurie Daley has placed his faith in Bird salvaging some pride for NSW. 

"He is a funny one Birdy," Daley said last week.

“I think if you said he was playing hooker he would say yeah right no worries. Nothing fazes him, put it that way ... At least these guys have been in the system this year so it'll be easy for them to slot in.”