iSelect Titans Co-Captain Greg Bird has felt the wrath of Brad Tighe as a teammate and as an opponent so it makes complete sense that he believes the new recruit will prove a hit on the Gold Coast.
Bird and Tighe were junior representative teammates coming through the ranks at the Newcastle Knights and while Bird moved to Cronulla to earn his NRL debut, Tighe went on to play 44 games for the Knights before moving to the Panthers, where he has spent the past six seasons.
Tighe's speedy pre-season switch in the wake of Jamal Idris' departure to Penrith was completed yesterday, with the 29-year-old leaving Penrith at 5am to make a 7am flight from Sydney to Coolangatta.
He wasted no time in acclimatising, heading straight for the training paddock where he impressed in his performance in the dreaded beep test before speaking with the media.
Despite the loss of Idris, Bird believes his club has acquired the services of a player blessed with rare talent in Tighe.
"I'm stoked to have him. The last couple of years I've seen him it's been some of the best football I've seen him play," Bird told NRL.com.
"When we played Harold Matts (under-16s) and SG Ball (under-18s) together he was always a five-eighth and I remember him being one of the best five-eighths I'd played with.
"We've been the victims of some of Tighesy's best games. Last year he scored a 'hatty' (hat-trick) against us at the end of the season and blew us apart and the year before he pretty much did the same.
"I know 'Carty' (Titans coach John Cartwright) holds him in pretty high regard considering the hidings he's given us and I'm looking forward to having him up here."
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