Jahream Bula #269

jirskyr said:
Yeah I was going to say that even if his attack isn't particularly firing right now, he's very sound positionally and in defence.

The problem with attack is just like when we had Tedecso - if there is nil other threat and your halves are just shovelling off, the opposition knows what is coming and good defences will cope. Especially as Tigers generally fail to straighten the play and there is almost now backrow threat either except the emergence of Samuela Fainu.

Secondly we have almost no attacking offloads this year, and by this I mean an offload after poking through the line, as opposed to an offload where they dump backwards in traffic. I am going to guess that Benji has instructed the team to be very safe with the ball, because we are a low error side but we also don't take many risks down the middle. In this case there aren't a large number of opportunities to steam onto the ball, but also I would say this might be the weakest part of Bula's game right now, the ambition to push up on every half chance.

I think ultimately part of the problem with Bula, on the surface, is even when he's trying he looks so effortless, which then becomes mistaken over time as non-involvement or no enthusiasm.
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Agree with this. You only have to look at Brooks' stats this year with many more attacking options around him.

The whole side is down on confidence which just destroys the ability to attack with speed. Sezer has been in and out of the team, as has Galvin. Neither of those guys are a real running threat like someone like Luai. And then our outside backs are all fairly slow except for Naden who is a bonehead.

Bula is never going to be a Reece Walsh or Kalyn Ponga type explosive fullback but there is nothing stopping him being a top quality fullback once he has a bit of support.
 
weststigerman said:
Agree with this. You only have to look at Brooks' stats this year with many more attacking options around him.

The whole side is down on confidence which just destroys the ability to attack with speed. Sezer has been in and out of the team, as has Galvin. Neither of those guys are a real running threat like someone like Luai. And then our outside backs are all fairly slow except for Naden who is a bonehead.

Bula is never going to be a Reece Walsh or Kalyn Ponga type explosive fullback but there is nothing stopping him being a top quality fullback once he has a bit of support.
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The service that Bula is given is horrible; Galvin probably best recognises this of all the halves, which is why Galvin also tucks it under his arm and takes the tackle so often, rather than dish crap out to the backline.

It's all too sideways and a lack of quick PTB to set up the backline. Even Keiran Foran, old as he is, was very willing to engage the line last week and part (I think) of why Kini had such a big game, because Titans were softening us up and then Foran was willing to dig right into the line. Where Titans fell down was their handling and quite quickly it became obvious that Campbell was lame in one leg and not much of a threat either.
 
Has Bula ever made a clean break... Often gets halfway thru in threatening situations and good field position but just can't get that extra step to get away
Is he just not quick enough?
Not strong enough?
I think the latter he's very lean
Hodgo weighed about the same as a bag of spuds but he could make line breaks plenty
 
innsaneink said:
Has Bula ever made a clean break... Often gets halfway thru in threatening situations and good field position but just can't get that extra step to get away
Is he just not quick enough?
Not strong enough?
I think the latter he's very lean
Hodgo weighed about the same as a bag of spuds but he could make line breaks plenty
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Thats my main concern with him is his lack of tackle busts and being an attacking threat.
He is quick but don’t think he has that rapid acceleration off the mark that worries defenders - he needs to be put into holes for him to be effective.
 
Bula is a very good player - he just needs to chime in support of the ball players. Staines when he was at fullback - he was doing this and he knew who he should follow in support. This is what Bula needs to do, which he greatly lacks in doing.
 
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4jtigers said:
Bula is a very good player - he just needs to chime in support of the ball players. Staines when he was at fullback - he was doing this and he knew who he should follow in support. This is what Bula needs to do, which he greatly lacks in doing.
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We'll see. He has all the natural ability but not the feel. The game is still a bit fast for him and he relies alot on his athleticism to make up the difference. It is obvious when he's in a passing situation how much he is still thinking. This leads to him not passing when he should or passing when he's then in a more difficult situation. He's often a second behind where he should be in support too.
 
Mighty_Tiger said:
Thats my main concern with him is his lack of tackle busts and being an attacking threat.
He is quick but don’t think he has that rapid acceleration off the mark that worries defenders - he needs to be put into holes for him to be effective.
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Even when he's running fast it looks slow... but he doesn't have reece walsh acceleration. i don't mind, I think he's a creative solid player.
 
Whether it's second year syndrome or what, but currently he'd in the bottom 3-4 fullbacks in the game. Without a doubt. Is he lazy? Unfit? Or just doesn't have the nous to get involved?
You look at the Roosters last week with Teddy, Canberra with Rapana, Kini at the Titans, they were all constantly buzzing around the ruck, looking for offloads, trying to speed through gaps etc. Bula just walks around in the background. He doesn't even sprint in his kick returns, he just casually looks for an opponent to run at rather than sprint to find or create a gap. I don't get it.
I saw him at training yesterday and he could sprint in drills. Yet for some reason he just doesn't do it in games very often.
If he wants to stay at fullback he needs to get involved a LOT more, and be a threat otherwise Turuva will get the gig hands down with Bula going to centre/wing.
 
mtd#2 said:
Even when he's running fast it looks slow... but he doesn't have reece walsh acceleration. i don't mind, I think he's a creative solid player.
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I do as well and he definitely has something, just think he is a player that needs someone to create the half opportunity for him to use rather than he creates the opportunity for others. Which in today’s game not what you want from a fullback.

I more we see of him the more I think center would be his best position longer term if we had a better fullback option (which we don’t have).

He is very much in the Nick Meaney bucket for mind. Meaney started at fullback, through lower grades was very good but at NRL his speed burst lacked (he holds up well over 100mtrs though) and was shifted and has made a good shift to center/wing rotations.
 
balmain boy said:
Whether it's second year syndrome or what, but currently he'd in the bottom 3-4 fullbacks in the game. Without a doubt. Is he lazy? Unfit? Or just doesn't have the nous to get involved?
You look at the Roosters last week with Teddy, Canberra with Rapana, Kini at the Titans, they were all constantly buzzing around the ruck, looking for offloads, trying to speed through gaps etc. Bula just walks around in the background. He doesn't even sprint in his kick returns, he just casually looks for an opponent to run at rather than sprint to find or create a gap. I don't get it.
I saw him at training yesterday and he could sprint in drills. Yet for some reason he just doesn't do it in games very often.
If he wants to stay at fullback he needs to get involved a LOT more, and be a threat otherwise Turuva will get the gig hands down with Bula going to centre/wing.
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For one, I think he's trying to think too much on where to be during structured attacking play atm given how important that fullback sweep play is today!

If he played more instinctual to back-up up the middle & off his back-rowers, he could be more effective.

Out of interest @balmain boy in the sprint drills, could you tell who were our fastest players?
 
BlackWhiteGold said:
For one, I think he's trying to think too much on where to be during structured attacking play atm given how important that fullback sweep play is today!

If he played more instinctual to back-up up the middle & off his back-rowers, he could be more effective.

Out of interest @balmain boy in the sprint drills, could you tell who were our fastest players?
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But we very rarely have any structured attacking plays. There's been an occasionally shift, usually left where he has been able to pop up to crate an extra man overlap, but 95% of our plays are either one out or pedestrian side to side stuff with no decoys. He doesn't have the instincts of a natural ball player, he's purely a runner. When a shift is on the halves/api need to tell him where to go otherwise he should be constantly sniffing around the ruck for any opportunity to exploit. Watson and Teddy ripped us to pieces doing that.

No one looked especially quick over short distances. We have practically no one with fast acceleration in our roster. Mason the only one. Most our Polynesian forwards matched the backs over the 30 odd metres they were doing.

The only positive I took out of the first few hours of training that i watched (had to move on shortly after 12) was a drill with the boys being urged to be much louder in defence. Yelling who's going high or low as they head into contact and then backing up to make a second effort the next tackle. All the 13 on 13 action was very pedestrian largely working on defence. But it's hard for our boys to learn how to defend against speed when we don't have anyone with speed to practice against.
 
In order to make a clean break, you need a lot of support runners.

I feel Bula is usually too deep and I think most times he's not in the right place to capitalise on someone's half break. His positioning and match sense is quite off. Most of the times on TV, I just don't see him in the frame. I think he is very strong, fast and fit, so he relies on that rather than smarts.

When he is running the ball, he's just focussed on breaking the first tackle and getting a quick play the ball, but I personally don't think a quick play the ball is that much beneficial on first tackle when the defence is rushing up and we barely have any attackers onside.

Would love someone like a Wade Mckinnon to teach him about positioning in attack. Probably one of the best support runner I've ever seen.
 
balmain boy said:
But we very rarely have any structured attacking plays. There's been an occasionally shift, usually left where he has been able to pop up to crate an extra man overlap, but 95% of our plays are either one out or pedestrian side to side stuff with no decoys. He doesn't have the instincts of a natural ball player, he's purely a runner. When a shift is on the halves/api need to tell him where to go otherwise he should be constantly sniffing around the ruck for any opportunity to exploit. Watson and Teddy ripped us to pieces doing that.

No one looked especially quick over short distances. We have practically no one with fast acceleration in our roster. Mason the only one. Most our Polynesian forwards matched the backs over the 30 odd metres they were doing.

The only positive I took out of the first few hours of training that i watched (had to move on shortly after 12) was a drill with the boys being urged to be much louder in defence. Yelling who's going high or low as they head into contact and then backing up to make a second effort the next tackle. All the 13 on 13 action was very pedestrian largely working on defence. But it's hard for our boys to learn how to defend against speed when we don't have anyone with speed to practice against.
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About time the club invested more resources into a sprint coach especially the acceleration/power phase.

I know a few of the boys went out (Junior Tupou, Kit Laulilii) & did some sprint training in the off-season & our entire Wests Magpies Harold Matts squad have a sprint coach (an ex female Australian 100m sprinter, can't remember her name).

Jahream would really benefit from some specific training. Yes he is a fast but more in a fluid, loping way not quick powerful leg speed.
 
balmain boy said:
Whether it's second year syndrome or what, but currently he'd in the bottom 3-4 fullbacks in the game. Without a doubt. Is he lazy? Unfit? Or just doesn't have the nous to get involved?
You look at the Roosters last week with Teddy, Canberra with Rapana, Kini at the Titans, they were all constantly buzzing around the ruck, looking for offloads, trying to speed through gaps etc. Bula just walks around in the background. He doesn't even sprint in his kick returns, he just casually looks for an opponent to run at rather than sprint to find or create a gap. I don't get it.
I saw him at training yesterday and he could sprint in drills. Yet for some reason he just doesn't do it in games very often.
If he wants to stay at fullback he needs to get involved a LOT more, and be a threat otherwise Turuva will get the gig hands down with Bula going to centre/wing.
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Bula will not be moved from fullback. He is the star in our backline and don't the opposition know it. Until Luai and Turuva arrive it is going to be tough going for Bula. In the rush to criticise, what is overlooked is that playing fullback at WTs is very different to playing fullback at the Broncos, Roosters, Storm and a few other clubs. Even more so when you make your debut at fullback for WTs. Let's give Bula a break because he does deserve it and is one of our best.
 
Bula just needs someone to teach him about attacking and ball playing. Defensively he is fine but I just feel he is a symptom of the bigger problem we have at the club of poor overall attack. If we could get a new attack coach in I think it would do wonders for the team and him aswell.
 
He doesn’t have a single elite trait. Agree with whoever said he is in the bottom 3 or 4 fullbacks in the game currently. I hope he comes good but I don’t see it. Possibly another one we rushed to sign to a high value, long term contract after a few solid games.
 
The kid has talent. Just needs one or 2 leaders. Look at us. On the bottom every year. I cant blame Bula. But I do question him not vying for the NBA.
 
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