Signings, Suggestions & Rumours Discussion

[watersider]

Yeah, he is a hard one.
The talent is clearly there...he could well be our best player.
He appears to not pull his weight consistently or cruise a bit...however:

• He has defused 59 bombs this year - which has him ranked 2nd in the comp
• He has taken 377 runs this year - which has him ranked 3rd in the comp
• He is averaging 160m/game with over 3.3kms gained - which has him ranked 6th in the comp
• He is 8th in the comp for kick return meters...his average isnt elite but he is putting the work in
• Has played every minute this year bar a 10 minute spell in the bin - which has him ranked 2nd in the comp

That said, he is also error riddled (8th worst in comp) is outside the top 25 players for linebreak assists, top 60 players for try assists and seems often out of position to save tries.

A work in progress, but a slow one at that.

And, if you can be bothered, who are the other players making lots of errors? Is it good players who are pushing things like is Sam walker up there? Or is it a list of duds?

Finally, how's he going with line breaks, tries and try assists?

I actually didn't think he'd look as good statistically as your stats suggest, and that's despite me rating him highly. Given he's doing that on one of the least competitive squads ever assembled, that's actually really impressive from Bula.

 

[Tito Santana]

Galvin said he based his game on Cameron Munster, and honestly I see it.

What I see

 

[Needaname]

Yeah, he is a hard one.
The talent is clearly there...he could well be our best player.
He appears to not pull his weight consistently or cruise a bit...however:

• He has defused 59 bombs this year - which has him ranked 2nd in the comp
• He has taken 377 runs this year - which has him ranked 3rd in the comp
• He is averaging 160m/game with over 3.3kms gained - which has him ranked 6th in the comp
• He is 8th in the comp for kick return meters...his average isnt elite but he is putting the work in
• Has played every minute this year bar a 10 minute spell in the bin - which has him ranked 2nd in the comp

That said, he is also error riddled (8th worst in comp) is outside the top 25 players for linebreak assists, top 60 players for try assists and seems often out of position to save tries.

A work in progress, but a slow one at that.

It’s interesting definitely he is only young.
I’ve noticed one fullback this year extremely underrated is Connor Tracey.
It’s no coincidence that Bulldogs have the 2nd best defence under Ciraldo. Tracey is an Edwards clone 100%.
Bula is different in that he has that individual running brilliance that can’t be understated but his 1 percenters need a lot of work.

 

[Tito Santana]

For 2026, buy Mulitalo, Bunty Afoa, Dylan Walker, Leo Thompson, Joffa, Spencer Leniu.

 

[Needaname]

Not sure how they will fit Hunt on a bomb plus Cook and Holmes, then add Gutherson

All aging players, all under the value of the contracts they were previously on.
Hunt resigned for less about 850k
Cook would be about 550k
Holmes I reckon 700k
Gutho 650k

 

[The Chad]

Bula's my favourite player at the club right now. He might have areas he can work on- but he has shown consistent growth, over the 2 years of 1st grade.

I think, all said & done- he's the best talent the club has.

 

[The Chad]

I don't see what Jack Bird has over some other options being discussed- but as has been mentioned- experience & professionalism.

Centre or lock, I assume. If centre, I think that would tell us what many suspect- Benji has identified dumb defensive decisions out wide as the achilles heel & is looking to fix it. You're not paying for prime Jack Bird obviously.

I'm sure if he is targeted, regardless of his level of play, it won't be good enough!

 

[Needaname]

Bula's my favourite player at the club right now. He might have areas he can work on- but he has shown consistent growth, over the 2 years of 1st grade.

I think, all said & done- he's the best talent the club has.

100% agree but he is raw, to get us out of the slump would be benefit from someone who is polished?

 

[Oldman]

Yeah, he looks likely but we really havent seen enough to judge him.
Agreee, wish him a full year of footy.

Haven’t seen anything to have an opinion either way.
I wish his mother was on this forum because by my recollection she is 1 for 1 on her quote that he was injurie prone.

 

[The Chad]

100% agree but he is raw, to get us out of the slump would be benefit from someone who is polished?

If the middles & edges stop representing spongecake, Bula's shortcomings won't be exposed as much.

Tighten up the middle. That's the first key.

 

[Oldman]

That could also work. The problem is, will the club have the balls to try these things?
Historically we are very conservative here.
Youd remember mate, for years you and me and a handful of others were adamant Brooks was not a halfback and we copped all sorts of kickback for those opinions. These days its pretty much accepted by the masses and everyone seems to talk about it as if it was an accepted fact a long time ago. It wasnt.
Im not happy with how our spine(s) are playing. I feel winning all these spoons are a byproduct of these spines. We must continue to experiement before we lock them in. In my eyes, Galvin does not have a mortgage on the 6...not yet anyway.

IF 🤞Latu comes good and can stay on the field and is considered in our best 13 what about moving Bula to centre and Galvin to fullback , with Galvins fitness he could end up like an Dylan Edwards plus he has a better passing game than Bula.
Just a thought

 

[Tucker]

Agreed but he has been the only constant with Sullivan, Sezer and Latu in the 7 due to injury, form, suspension so I would suggest he has been told to run it by the rookie coach.
Next year he will be less as Luai will demand the ball more.

Yes he has been the constant, thus I say he ran our attack this year. How did our attack go do you think?Does this make him an effective 5/8? Luai will certainly help him next year but is that what we should be doing, or should Luai be paired with Fainu? These are the questions that I am raising.

 

[Tucker]

He's just turned 19 and playing with full grown men. What he has showed for his age is incredible. He has energy. He takes the line on. He looks dangerous. He creates space. He's got a good combination with Sam fainu going that's only going to get better. With some training he will be one of the better kickers in the game. There's work to do in defence, but again he's only 18. He will get bigger and better each year.

He is a 6. He wants to play 6.

If we put him into the centres then we say goodbye to him at the end of 2026.

If we were the Roosters, the halves pairing of Galvin and Luai would be the talk of the town..

We should be building the club around these two and the crop of juniors we have.

You're entitled to your opinion, but mine is the club will never win a premiership with Sezer at 7. On the other hand, we are a chance with Galvin at 6 and Luai at 7.

I am only suggesting Sezer until Fainu is ready. Fainu/Luai will be the better combination with Galvin in either the centres or the backrow. At present he is too small for the backrow, therefore I suggested centres.

 

[Tucker]

You could use the 3 wins from 19 against any player and say they havent been effective.

You can do better than that.

Its true in his case because he has been running our attack and the results have been balls.
All of our outside backs have been poor this year. Now I put it to you, is it more plausable that the problem is with all of them or is there something about how he interacts with them that isnt working?

 

[balmain boy]

Bateman will be back, hopefully refreshed we need
him at second row, he'll play better with new structure

He will never return. No chance

 

[Tucker]

Well pretty much every Rugby League expert has commented on how good of a job he’s been doing at 5/8 & how he will be a star there for years to come but yes there is more substance to your opinion & you are right as always.

They havent said that at all. Learn to listen. They are all saying how he is a natural fit for first grade, how he is not intimidated, how he is a tireless worker, how he never gives up, how he is always on the ball etc....they are referring to his ability to play first grade footy.

 

[Tucker]

Is that most errors as a total number of average errors per game? Nice stats.

8th highest total of personal errors in the comp.

 

[balmain boy]

Agree with your last comments on intelligent forwards but your mate Balmain Boy does not think that way. How do you Convince him? He just wants a sharp AX to get rid of them all.

Huh, you think I don't want intelligent forwards? Of course we do. Intelligent strong powerful forwards. Intelligence is nothing if they're 170cm and 90kgs and run softly.
We definitely need some genuine tough guys. Nice guys finish last. We've tried to sign players on character alone, but that's not enough. The physical requirements come first. But the two definitely aren't mutually exclusive

 

[Tucker]

And, if you can be bothered, who are the other players making lots of errors? Is it good players who are pushing things like is Sam walker up there? Or is it a list of duds?

Finally, how's he going with line breaks, tries and try assists?

I actually didn't think he'd look as good statistically as your stats suggest, and that's despite me rating him highly. Given he's doing that on one of the least competitive squads ever assembled, that's actually really impressive from Bula.

Its the guys you'd expect, Savage, Lomax, Hunt, Rapana, Drinkwater, Feldt, Tago then Bula.
Line Breaks = He is 96th in the comp
Line Break Assists = He is 26th in the comp
Tries scored = He is 28th in the comp
Try Assists = He is 62nd in the comp

He is a funny sort of player, gives off the impression that he isnt doing a lot when he is, however his ball playing definitely needs work.

 

[TSP]

Api has been carrying this bunch since he got here, hopefully he doesn't feel as pressured and burdened once Jerome arrives, he just looks like he has the weight of the world on his shoulders.

He’s a cool customer.

I think he feed off Jerome and vice versa, theyd both be looking forward to it.