Jahream Bula #269

[Demps]

Just wait till you see Bula with Latus addition to the spine.

This guy brings everyone up around him.
His playmaking & ball playing is electric.

When we get our full strength spine on the field and some good attacking options around them, we're going to be a very exciting team.

 

[tigahhh]

Just wait till you see Bula with Latus addition to the spine.

This guy brings everyone up around him.
His playmaking & ball playing is electric.

When we get our full strength spine on the field and some good attacking options around them, we're going to be a very exciting team.

100% so excited!

 

[cktiger]

I’ve done the pub test, nobody other than Wests Tigers fans think of Bula as anything other than just an average run of the mill player.
Not a bad player, but nowhere near superstar status.

Who gives a rats bum?

 

[jirskyr]

Just wait till you see Bula with Latus addition to the spine.

This guy brings everyone up around him.
His playmaking & ball playing is electric.

When we get our full strength spine on the field and some good attacking options around them, we're going to be a very exciting team.

Just interestingly, for whatever reason in the limited times Latu has started as HB, Bula has often been out. They've only played together 2 times in this combination, for 2 losses.

Latu has started 3 other matches without Bula, for 2L 1W (last week was the W).

 

[jirskyr]

Weird chat BTW, are there realistically any better FB options for Tigers out there, than Bula?

You have your clearly superior $1M+ options like Tedesco, Dylan Edwards, Reece Walsh, Hammer, Ponga but those guys are not leaving their clubs for Tigers.

Bula is fast, he's very safe under the high ball, positioning is decent, last-line defence is average but so it Tedesco's. Turuva played a good nuggety stint at FB last week, but he's nothing like the safety of Bula taking those bombs.

Bula can improve by getting more injected in attack but opposition defences do worry about him, and the way he glides about presents issues for them because he can quickly and not so obviously shift gears.

 

[kiwitiger]

I’ve done the pub test, nobody other than Wests Tigers fans think of Bula as anything other than just an average run of the mill player.
Not a bad player, but nowhere near superstar status.

Cheers.
Just shown this to the misses and said i think this is a very uneducated pub. I have to do may own research

 

[clontarfkid]

Kennedy on say $ 700 and Bulla on $ 900 I take Kennedy all day , $ 200 k towards another player , simple , plus we rid the mosses factor unless he also has Kennedy and if that’s the case , Turuva to fullback go buy a wing man

Bula is the next Moses problem coming into our face..we have give him a ridiculous contract where if things dont work out he still gets $800k as a default..crazy!
IMO...Bula has great athletism,but currently isnt in the top 12 fullbacks in the NRL.
He needs to lift like Tureva did last week and get more involved in the game and more committed to both offence and defence.Hes cruising

 

[Vicious]

Cheers.
Just shown this to the misses and said i think this is a very uneducated pub. I have to do may own research

Thanks for that.
Once you ask 10 or more non Wests Tigers supporters for their opinion if he is in the top 10 NRL fullbacks and worth every cent of 900k come 2027 let us know the results,

 

[Merlot]

The only reason I could imagine Bula taking up the players option (him) would be if the club (wests tigers) didn’t want to extend him and no other club offered him a decent contract.
Which I can’t see happening.

i think there maybe more sting in the tail , even if we do resign him, As its a 1 year agreement either iether minimum,he still can go to market early ,So if he means he wants to stay on a fare wage for a proper rebuild , or bugger off for more money. Swapped managers and moses wont make a cent until he signs another deal - make of that what you will ,its not like said manager hasn't agitated b4

 

[Vicious]

At the end of the day everyone is entitled to their opinion.
If you rate Jahream extremely highly that’s your prerogative, plenty agree with you and quite a few others including myself acknowledge and agree he is a talented player, bur have question marks about his star status.
I don’t think I’ve heard anyone say he’s not a talented player, the question being raised relates to his contract status, will he give us value at 900k come 2027 ?
I’m one of quite a few who do not believe we have a playing roster as it stands for 2026/2027 that is a realistic chance of being a premiership contender.
Some may disagree and be of the belief that our current playing roster, plus a few extra squaddies will be good enough and if that’s your opinion I sincerely hope you are right as I’m 90% certain that is how the club is heading.
Don’t forget it’s very likely we will have to factor in upgrades for players such as Terrell May, Latu Fainu, Sione Fainu and potentially Samuela Fainu, Taylan May and Heamasi Makasini at some stage between now and 2027.
My belief is we need to recruit a genuine elite player to be realistic premiership contenders by 2027.
Obviously it’s a bit late and it’s highly unlikely any elite players will become available for 2026, so our only option for this type of recruitment would have to be for 2027.
Which elite players are currently available for 2027, could potentially add enough value to make us premiership contenders and why would they sign with us.
The elite players that spring to mind are Tino Fa'asuamaleaui and Herbie Farnsworth, but there could be other possibilities.
As unlikely as it may be that either of those two would sign with a club like ours, we do have the attraction of a talented young and emerging playing roster and money talks, so much the same as it was with Jerome Luai, we would have to offer them as much, if not more than any other club to be a chance.

 

[jrtiger]

name a better duo…

 

[clontarfkid]

If the club want him they will probably offer him an extended contract at least to the $900 or more.
If no extension comes from Wests Tigers and Bula doesn’t receive any offers from anyone else,
He either leaves or sticks around for a measly $800.
His choice.

Its heads you win...tails I lose.
And he replaced the manager that did this deal...?
Jeez

 

[Merlot]

At the end of the day everyone is entitled to their opinion.
If you rate Bula highly that’s your prerogative, plenty agree with you and plenty don’t, I’d say it’s roughly a 50/50 split of supporters who believe he will give us value at 900k come 2027 and those who don’t.
I’m one of many who do not currently believe we have a playing roster as it stands for 2026/2027 that is a realistic chance of being premiership contender.
Some may disagree and be of the belief that our current playing roster as it stands for 2026/2027 is capable of winning a premiership. If that’s your opinion I sincerely hope you are right.
My belief is we need to recruit a genuine star player to add to our roster to allow us to genuinely be in the conversation as premiership contender for 2026/2027.
Obviously it’s a bit late and no real star players will become available for 2026, so our focus for that type of recruitment will have tj be for 2027.
So which star players are currently available for 2027, could potentially add enough value to make us premiership contenders and why would they sign with us.
The 2 I can think of off the top of my head are Tino Fa'asuamaleaui and Herbie Farnsworth.
As unlikely as it may be that either of those 2 would sign with a club like ours, we do have the attraction of a talented young and emerging roster and money talks, so like with Luai we would have to offer them as much, if not more than any other club to be a chance.
The Salary Cap will not allow us to pay these types of players as it currently stands, therefore the only possible way is to cut loose somebody on big money.
If it come down to the choice between possibly adding either of these 2 to our roster, but we had to cut someone on big money loose to be able to afford it, I know what I would do.

i like numbers and our salary cap is way out of whack still paying percentages on our top 4 signings over the last 3 years , A new coach is not conducive of balancing the bills

 

[clontarfkid]

I usually judge fullbacks by how much I see them in the frame.

Maybe it's the close up shots, but I always find Bula out of the picture both in attack and defence.

I think he has tremendous fitness, finesse with the ball, speed and agility. But, he lacks anticipation, game awareness and positional awareness. Unfortunately, in 50 games, I haven't seen him improve in that either. The other thing is reliability under the high ball in defence as well as making cover tackles, both he has definitely struggled with.

I'm worried that he may end up as another Sloane or Matt Dufty etc. Maybe, it's just the paranoid in me thinking that.

Thats my concern too..he just doesnt put everything into every game
Fullbacks....no particular order,,but the following wld be more desirable
Edwards
Tedesco
Papa
Ponga
Walsh(?)
Mitchell
Turbo(?)
Brimson
Hammer
Gutho(?)
Weekes
Thats just a start...probably missed one or two
$900k is getting into rarified air...Bula hasnt had lift off just yet
Dont get me wrong...as athletic as almost all of them on this list...but ..well..lazy is the only word I can think of
We need more from his talents

 

[Merlot]

Thats my concern too..he just doesnt put everything into every game
Fullbacks....no particular order,,but the following wld be more desirable
Edwards
Tedesco
Papa
Ponga
Walsh(?)
Mitchell
Turbo(?)
Brimson
Hammer
Gutho(?)
Weekes
Thats just a start...probably missed one or two
$900k is getting into rarified air...Bula hasnt had lift off just yet
Dont get me wrong...as athletic as almost all of them on this list...but ..well..lazy is the only word I can think of
We need more from his talents

is he worthy of still over paying on potential ,i don;t give a rats , .Bula is cheap if thats what you want

 

[clontarfkid]

is he worthy of still over paying on potential ,i don;t give a rats , .Bula is cheap if thats what you want

Got absolutely nothing to do with "what I want" tbh
Its about optimising value from our roster,and dare I say it ,having 17 blokes on the field who are 110% committed to getting the job done for WTs ..like most of our players are.We saw it last week...and Tureva was very much at the forefront
Dont feel same way about Bula
Were not in a position to throw talent away,but..

 

[TIGERS]

If the club want him they will probably offer him an extended contract at least to the $900 or more.
If no extension comes from Wests Tigers and Bula doesn’t receive any offers from anyone else,
He either leaves or sticks around for a measly $800.
His choice.

Richo explained it on the ABC. There is a mutual option for 2027, Bula can elect to stay at 800,000 a season, or the club can pull the trigger to keep him at 900,000 a season. Richo even went as far to say that based on form/potential prior to his injury he would be worth it.

What's the going rate for a standard 1st grade fullback these days?? And what is Bula worth beyond that? We will almost certainly take up the option.

 

[TIGERS]

i like numbers and our salary cap is way out of whack still paying percentages on our top 4 signings over the last 3 years , A new coach is not conducive of balancing the bills

How is our Salary Cap out of whack?? We've got quite a bit of room atm?

 

[TIGERS]

$900k is getting into rarified air...Bula hasnt had lift off just yet

Maybe... but I'd prefer the overs we have to pay Bula to the overs we would have to pay some mercenary to come and replace him. We wouldn't beat out other clubs to get Gutherson unless we shelled out over a Million.

OK its 900K but its for 1 season.

 

[tigerballs]

While the Bula $900K or not debate is interesting from the sideline the real issue has nothing to do with $. It is to do with setting us up to have a crack at the title. That is not going to happen without a settled and stable spine - just look back at the premiership winners over the last 20 years.

Benji and Richo have made a decision on the spine and how it is going to look. They need to make a decison now on Bula and once that decision is made (and I believe it has) then the $ aren't really an issue - it is about building the roster to make the most of the spine. If the $ to keep Bula are an issue in 27 we should let him go now and buy in who we want because in 27 we should be in the first year of the premiership window - changing the spine then pushes us back two years at least.

Going in to 26 we have decent depth across the park. What we lack is a couple of needle moving forwards as starters and, potentially, a strike centre (if May doesn't cut it).

You're 100% right Jollsy, and our best spine is pretty damn hot. Plus Hope is great cover for Api, Tito great cover for Bula. AD has shown he can be great cover in the halves. We have the outside backs covered with Tiny, Makasini, Staines and LL. What we need is a few big, athletic edges from either the Warriors or Broncos systems, maybe Cowboys, and maybe another FR, and we're top 4. In fact, if we can discover a top class, 19 year old, 6' 4" 110 kg 13 at any club in the world, we're set.