In 2013 and 2014, Bird played for the St George Illawarra Dragons’ NYC team. On 3 May 2014, Bird played for the New South Wales under-20s team against the Queensland under-20s team, playing at lock in the 30-8 win at Penrith Stadium. On 18 September 2014, Bird signed a two-year contract with the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks starting in 2015. On 18 October 2014, Bird played for the Junior Kangaroos against the Junior Kiwis, playing at centre in the 15-14 loss at Mt Smart Stadium.

On 31 January and 1 February 2015, Bird played for Cronulla-Sutherland in the 2015 NRL Auckland Nines. In round 4 of the 2015 NRL season, Bird made his NRL debut for the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks against the Gold Coast Titans, playing off the interchange bench in Cronulla’s 24-22 loss at Shark Park. In his next match in round 5 against the Sydney Roosters, Bird played at five-eighth for Cronulla-Sutherland in the absence of regular five-eighth Ben Barba. Bird scored two tries and set up another in the Sharks’ 20–12 upset win over the 2013 premiers, causing him to be selected again at five-eighth the next week ahead of Barba who was named on the interchange bench. On 3 May 2015, Bird played for New South Wales Country against New South Wales City in the 2015 City vs Country Origin match, playing at halfback in Country’s 34–22 win at Wagga Wagga. On 28 September 2015, at the 2015 Dally M Awards night, Bird was named the Dally M Rookie of the Year after playing in 23 matches and scoring 8 tries for Cronulla.

On 15 January 2016, Bird re-signed with Cronulla-Sutherland on a one-year contract. In February 2016, Bird played for the Sharks in the 2016 NRL Auckland Nines. On 8 May 2016, Bird played for Country Origin against City Origin, where he played at halfback in the 44–30 loss in Tamworth.

On 22 June 2016, Bird made his representative debut for New South Wales in Game 2 of the 2016 State of Origin series, where played he filled the void on the interchange bench for Dylan Walker who shifted to centre in the 26–16 loss at Suncorp Stadium. Bird also played in Game 3, where he again played off interchange bench in the Blues 18–14 win at ANZ Stadium.

On 2 October 2016, in Cronulla’s 2016 NRL Grand Final against the Melbourne Storm, Bird played at centre and bravely played the majority of the match with an elbow injury in the historic 14–12 victory. Bird finished his successful 2016 NRL season with him playing in 26 matches and scoring 6 tries for Cronulla-Sutherland.

In February 2017, Bird was selected in the Sharks 2017 NRL Auckland Nines squad. On 10 February 2017, Bird played for the Indigenous All Stars against the World All Stars in the 2017 All Stars match, starting at centre and scoring a try in the 34–8 win at Hunter Stadium.

On 13 April 2017, it was announced that Bird signed a lucrative four-year deal, worth $4 million with the Brisbane Broncos starting in 2018. For the 2017 State of Origin series, Bird played in all 3 matches off the interchange bench for the Blues in their 2–1 series loss. Bird finished his last year with Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks with him playing in 17 matches and scoring 3 tries in the 2017 NRL season.

On 23 September 2017, Bird played for Prime Minister’s XIII against Papua New Guinea, starting at five-eighth in the 48–8 win in Port Moresby.

Bird made his return for Brisbane in the 2019 season opening round 1 match against the Melbourne Storm, playing at centre in the 22-12 loss at AAMI Park. Following the match, Bird was receiving negative feedback on social media about his performance despite it was his first match back since round 10 of the previous season, fans were quick to judge his performance based on an early error, and he finished with 127 running metres, three tackle-breaks and 11 tackles. During the first half, Bird was hit hard by Storm winger Suliasi Vunivalu and coughed up the ball for Curtis Scott to race away and score for Melbourne. In Round 3 against the St George Illawarra Dragons, Bird scored his first club try for the Broncos in the heartbreaking last second 25-24 loss at Suncorp Stadium.