Cronulla star Jack Bird has capped off a stellar NRL season by taking out the Dally M Rookie of the year award.
Bird was key in the Sharks' top eight finish this year and beat Manly's Tom Trbojevic, Melbourne's Cameron Munster and Warrior Tuimoala Lolohea to take out the award.
Bird was lured to the shire from St George Illawarra ahead of the 2015 season and played 23 games and scored eight tries. The 20-year-old was rewarded for his good early season form by earning a berth with NSW Country for their annual representative clash with City.
"It was a good season for the Sharks especially where we came from, to go from last to first ," Bird said.
"It was a remarkable year for us."
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Bird said senior players in the Sharks side such as skipper Paul Gallen and hooker Michael Ennis had helped his development.
"Mick Ennis and Gal are good blokes, they bash me around at training but it doesn't really work," he said.
