I’m struggling to judge Bula at the moment.
I see what you’re saying but I honestly think if you put Edwards, Drinkwater or Kennedy at the back they would struggle as well. Brimson and Walsh might be different due to instant speed hit but also wouldn’t be as effective as they are at current clubs.
He can’t do it on his own and I’m finding our attacking structures to be flat again without deception most times and mechanical left/right/left shifts which aren’t beneficial to a fullback in today’s game. He is getting zero space but when he does we have seen whilst limited things happen.
I mentioned few games back we look like Bud and Sezer are playing counting numbers & getting more convinced by that based on our shifting style & when Galvin gets the ball. It’s reactive shifting. Galvin is the only one that tries something and Api in the danger zone despite numbers.
If you look at all the other fullbacks they are often outside the half/58th or beside the ruck on the 2nd or 3rd rapid play the ball - they common key is they have some space on front foot either way which doesn’t happen for Bula. But Bula is positioning himself better in attack this year compared to last and on both sides which does show progress.
His effort areas are fine the issue is his team or he isn’t positioning well enough to use his skills. I do have doubt about his speed impact off the mark and ball playing but when he gets a sniff he does break free it’s just tough to judge.
He has shown especially off Galvin their is a combination to build off but then on the other side it’s ghost town (put that down to Sezer, lack of 13 & poor center option.) Sezer we knew wasn’t going to be a running threat but his kicking game / buy time was why he was here - with Luai who is attack focused will be very interesting to see how things evolve.
His try scoring % of teams tries for fullbacks put him top 3 fullbacks in the comp, his try involvements are bottom 3 but our overall attack is last which is unfair to target this on Bula primarily.
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