Exeter City striker Jay Bird joins Rochdale on loan
The 23-year-old has moved to the National L
Exeter City striker Jay Bird has joined Rochdale on loan until the end of the 24/25 season. The 23-year-old has moved to the National League side who currently sit 10th in the table.
Bird joined City in the summer transfer window and has made 20 appearances in red and white this season, scoring twice. He opened his City account with the first goal in City’s 3-2 win over Bristol Rovers in the Vertu Motors Trophy before scoring in City’s remarkable 5-3 win over Barnet in the Emirates FA CuP
Manager Gary Caldwell said: “The loan is a perfect opportunity for Jay to go out and get regular minutes in a competitive league to help build his fitness and score goals so he’s in a better place for later on this season or next season.”.
Exeter Chiefs are in the latter stages of talks with Wallabies scrum-half Jake Gordon about switching Sydney for the West Country next season.
Chiefs director of rugby Rob Baxter has been thwarted in his attempts to fill the top position on his shopping list for next season’s squad, having reportedly missed out on signing Raffi Quirke from Sale Sharks and Ben White from Toulon, but he looks to be on the verge of landing the 6ft 1in Waratahs captain with aspirations to announce the deal in the next few weeks.
Gordon, 31, joined the NSW Waratahs in 2017 and has captained the side since 2021. In that time the half-back has earned 103 caps for Waratahs with 102 of them coming in Super Rugby. Gordon made his Test debut against Italy in 2018 and has gone on to earn 29 caps, the last of which came in the recent 2024 Autumn Nations Series.
Gordon is one of four Australians potentially heading to Sandy Park next season with the club having already confirmed the addition of flanker Tom Hooper, a deal for centre Len Ikitau wrapped up but currently unannounced and Waratahs hooker Julian Heaven linked.
Baxter said: “We’ve got two or three overseas players who we’re very close to announcing. I’m really pleased with how things are shaping up. We look like we can be a very, very competitive group when we get everyone on the pitch. I’m really excited about where we look like we’re heading.
