Jack Bird is looking for his third club in as many seasons with the Wests Tigers giving him permission to test his value on the open market.

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The Daily Telegraph reported Bird has been given permission to negotiate with rivals clubs after falling out of favour with Benji Marshall in 2025.

Bird is free to leave the Tigers at the end of the season if he is able to find a deal elsewhere despite having 12 months left on his contract.

The 30-year-old has played 17 games for the Tigers in his first season of a two year deal at the club after he was released by the Dragons at the end of the 2024 season.

He has played 17 games for the Tigers this year largely off the bench and has only played 80 minutes twice.

Bird is on a deal worth $400,000 a season and it remains to be seen if the Tigers would be willing to chip in a chunk of his salary to play elsewhere next season.

He may be forced to move to the Super League in a bid to secure a multi-year deal.

Bird has scored 36 tries in 173 games for the Sharks, Broncos, Dragons and Tigers since his debut in 2015 and won a premiership in 2016.

He has also played five Origins for the Blues in 2016 and 2017, but has struggled to reach the heights of his early career at Cronulla after a brutal run with injuries at the Broncos.

The Tigers have made key re-signings in recent weeks including Starford To’a and Adam Doueihi while they have also signed Jock Madden (Broncos), Kai Pearce-Paul (Knights), Javon Andrews (Titans), Mavrik Geyer (Panthers), and Ethan Roberts (Roosters) for next season, while they also want to extend Taylan May after giving him an NRL lifeline.

Jack Bird is free to leave the TigersSource: Getty Images

R360 TARGET EELS’ ORIGIN STAR

Zac Lomax is reportedly being targeted by rebel competition Rugby 360, with the Eels aware of the potential move that could amount to a mammoth $1.3 million switch.

According to Code Sports, Parramatta powerbrokers are aware Lomax is reportedly interested in a move to the rival code, but it remains to be seen whether he would be granted a release.

The 25-year-old is contracted until the end of the 2028 season after making the switch from the Dragons ahead of the club’s 2025 campaign.

The R360 competition will reportedly begin in September 2026, meaning he would need to depart with two years remaining on his contract.

The talented winger is reportedly earning $650,000 on his current deal but that figure could soar to more than double should he join R360.

Lomax is the latest in a list of rugby league targets of the rebel competition, with Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, Nelson Asofa-Solomona and Ryan Papenhuyzen also linked with a move.

For the R360 competition to begin, 200 players reportedly need to be signed by the end of September and it remains to be seen if the rebel league will eventuate.

Speaking on NRL360, former Wallabies mentor Michael Cheika had his say on whether R360 has the potential to take over.

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“The players that are in this particular iteration of it, they’re coming in a slightly different way,” Cheika said.

“I don’t think they’ve got a big broadcaster with them or anything. I think they’re trying to build the comp and then take it to someone else, so a lot of it is conditional work.

“I think the idea, the concept of something new, is right. I think it’s there for the opportunity.

“Whether these guys can pull it off, I’m not 100 per cent sure, because I’d like to see something a bit more solid, broadcaster, that type of momentum behind it as well.”