He is the secret weapon Cronulla hope will finally deliver them a maiden NRL premiership.Six months after revealing his boredom in the centres, Sharks star Jack Bird is thrilled by the possibility of being bombed in-field in next weeks preliminary final.Coach Shane Flanagan made the shock decision to bench starting halfback Chad Townsend late in their qualifying final win over Canberra, shifting Bird into the halves in the clutch.What has been overlooked was his initial plan to bring bench centre Gerard Beale onto the field late in the game and inject Birds attacking play at lock.That was the plan for Flanno, to put me at lock when them big boys are getting tired and try to beat them on their inside shoulders, Bird told AAP.It was something I was looking forward to actually, just to be around the ball a little bit more and get myself more involved.Unfortunately it didnt work out, but I went to five-eighth and thats the second best option.The NSW State of Origin representative hasnt played a minute in the midfield at club level this year, but is salivating at the thought of making the surprise move in a grand final qualifier.Flanagan has enjoyed the luxury of having a specialist centre in Beale or Ricky Leutele on his bench for most of this season, and could look again at using Birds thrust around the ruck.Bird, who was in a battle with Ben Barba for the fullback spot in the pre-season, concedes he has heard the calls for him to eventually find his best position in the forwards.But he hinted that it could happen sooner, against North Queensland/Brisbane next week.Ive heard a few talks around saying thats where Ill probably end up, playing lock. I played lock when I was younger. Its something I wouldnt mind doing again, he said.The way I play footy, I gotta be around the ball a little bit more. The more I get the ball in my hands, the better Ill be.The 21-year-old admitted he has had a number of discussions with Flanagan during the year on how to get more involved during matches.I havent spoken to him about playing lock, but Ive spoken to him about swinging on the other side of the field and that kind of stuff, he said.But its hard at centre - youve got to stick to your edges. But hopefully it happens somewhere down the track, but Im not too sure when. Fake Rockies Jerseys . - Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco is not a fan of his teams use of the wildcat formation, saying "it makes you look like a high school offence. Rockies Jerseys China . -- Jakob Silfverberg is making himself right at home with the Anaheim Ducks, scoring four goals in his first four games. https://www.cheaprockiesjerseys.us/ . Having already announced that the race will start May 9 with three stages in Northern Ireland and Ireland and finish in Trieste on June 1, the rest of the route was unveiled Monday. Colorado Rockies Shirts . -- Teemu Selanne scored the first goal of his 22nd NHL season, and the Anaheim Ducks extended the best start in franchise history with their fifth straight victory, 3-2 over the Calgary Flames on Wednesday night. Colorado Rockies Gear . Kyle Denbrook, a soccer player from Saint Marys University, took the CIS male athlete of the week honour. Stanley, a fourth-year business administration student from Charlottetown, scored both goals in a 2-0 win over Dalhousie on Friday and tallied again in a 1-0 win over Saint Marys on Sunday. CONCORD, N.C. -- There was a time when cable channel TNT carried NASCAR Cup Series racing. There was also a time when TNTs slogan was We know drama.Sunday afternoons 500-mile race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, the first race of the second round of the 2016 Chase for the Sprint Cup, would have fit perfectly into an old TNT time slot. It already felt like a throwback event, starting at high noon on a Sunday and forced out of its sexier Saturday night prime-time starting time by Hurricane Matthew.But as anyone in the Carolinas will tell you, the most perfect weather youll ever experience comes the day after a hurricane has passed through.Even under perfectly clear, cool skies, a dang near-perfect Chase storm blew in.This is just how its going to be, isnt it? Carl Edwards wondered aloud, standing on pit road after finishing 12th.On most Chase days, that finish would have been cause for panic. But a rash of attrition that infected a majority of the championship contenders meant that Edwards was sitting squarely in the middle of the postseason pack, finishing sixth among the dozen remaining Cup hopefuls.I think well see guys making mistakes behind the wheel because they are pressing so hard. I think well see pit crews making mistakes because of the same. And I think well see equipment breaking down because teams are pushing the limits.On Sunday we saw all of the above.Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick, winners of three races apiece, both had engine issues. Wunderkinds Chase Elliott and Austin Dillon both crashed. Joey Logano and Martin Truex Jr., two of the years consistently biggest threats to win races, were plagued by tire and clutch issues, respectively.In all, five of the Chase contenders finished 30th or worse. There were 40 cars in the race. On the digital results screens that are shown in NASCAR media centers, the Chase contenders are highlighted in red. Typically, at the end of Chase events most of those red marks are crowded up at the top left of that screen. That makes sense. After all, they are the best teams.At the end of Sundays race, it was quite the bizarre look to see those marks piled up in the lower right-hand corner of the monitor.Its weird how each round of this thing kind of takes on its own personality, said Hamlin, who finished 30th. The first [three-race] round so many of us moved on into this round because we were consistent. Now there are so many of us who left early today, winning becomes even more important than it already was.ddddddddddddSome guys will be hanging it out there at Kansas.Thats the next race in this round of what NASCAR carefully calls a grid and a not a bracket. But its a bracket. And like any other postseason, ever step along that bracket becomes smaller than the one before it, like a funnel. And like a funnel, the pressure builds up the closer you get to the exit.The stress level at Kansas, a 1.5-mile intermediate speedway in the same family tree as Charlotte, will feel like an elimination race, even though it isnt. Why? Because of the place that does host the elimination race.I think we would all love to tell you that we arent thinking about Talladega, but we definitely know its out there, admitted Cole Pearn, crew chief for Truex, who won two of the three races in the previous Chase round but finished 13th on Sunday, seventh among the Chasers.Only eight will move on from the restrictor-plate bingo hopper that is Talladega two weekends from now.I dont think you are ever totally in control of your race car or what might happen, Pearn added. Our season has sure proved that. Weve won four races, but we could have won 10. But at Talladega you have way less control of what might happen than anywhere else.Sure, they all say they arent thinking about Talladega, but not worrying about results on the sports biggest track was among the first points raised by Jimmie Johnson, who guaranteed himself a ticket into the final eight with his Charlotte win.And it was also on the mind of those who now know the best route to join him is to win Kansas.That our only goal at this point, said Rodney Childers, crew chief for Harvick, who has finishes of 20th or worse in three of the four Chase races but is still alive thanks to his win at New Hampshire two weeks ago. Then again, our goal is to win to every week.I cant even imagine what the last lap of Talladega is going to be like, Edwards added. I cant imagine what the last lap at Kansas is going to be like. Thats just what this is. Every lap matters more than the next one did. But you have to be there for that lap, dont you? A lot of guys today werent. That could be us next week. Its hard to describe.Stress, pressure, fun ... I dont know what the right word is.Sure you do, Cuz.Drama. ' ' '