OFFICIAL Jahream Bula #269

[Vicious]

Not trying to divert individual accountability, however this applies to a lot more of them than just Bula.

I would argue that all of the following are way off their form from earlier in the season ; Bula, Turuva, Skelton, Doueihi, May, Api, Sione Fainu (even though a different position cannot recall anything good for several weeks) , Twal. Not surprisingly the overall team results have been so bad. Most of these players are NRL standard on their best form.

All currently being outplayed by their opponents.

If you compare our team lineup to the Raiders who are also struggling outside of the top 8, we will struggle to find more than 3 players who are superstitious their direct Raiders opponent on current form.
When that is the case it clearly shows our playing roster is our biggest problem.

 

[innsaneink]

Idk why a lot of people think Bula has some unseen, hidden, third coming of Christ talent. I haven't seen any reason to think that in his whole career. This is the peak of Bula, at his highest potential. He's not some Lionel Messi of rugby, if he was, we would've seen glimpses greatness, all I've seen is a weak boy whose only in it for the money, doesn't give a rat's ass for his club or the fans, just an utter grub.

His peak was some time back...last year...personally i thought was some extra sprint training he would go higher...many thought his ceiling was higher...id say it still is, though he has regressed big time along with many in the team, its not an individual thing
I believe he suffers from the lack of pace the entire team has...as ut is he is still getting ball when heavily marked, if he was getting ball from someone half or 3/4 thru the line wed see a different player

 

[Jolls]

I agree.
But you can't really compare like that. It only serves to divert individual accountability.

To be fair, if we recognise that many of our players aren't at first grade standard anyway, we can't realistically expect them to better most of their respective opponents in the first place.

The difference is that we have expected from Bula, our highly touted fullback, a 4-year vet who showed so much promise, a guy we signed on a massive multi-year contract, that he should be leading from the back, be an example of professionalism, and more the point here - making mincemeat of his direct opponents when they are players like Tracey, Kini, Fuller etc.

So it was alarming and quite frankly embarrassing to see those guys completely outplay him.

And I don't buy this injury malarkey either. Injuries were not the cause of his stuff-ups, e.g. first minute against the Dogs. If he really wasn't fit to play then he wouldn't be playing. It's that simple.

I don't know what it is, but lately he looks like a fish out of water.
His form is bad enough to be dropped. But I doubt he will be.
He simply has to turn this around.
He's got to develop his game. And fast.
Far out if Tracey didn't give him and Benji a wake up call, then nothing will.

I did some numbers on Bula pre and post injury in the deep dive thread and there is a significant drop off in perfomance on both sides of the pill (go here to dig into the detail). The issue is that the contract was signed while he was out injured so while it is highly likely it is the injury causing the issues the contract saga can't be thrown out the window. I am giving him the benefit of the doubt; but now the season is cooked we probably should have him and AD scheduled for early surgery.

In relation to the kick in the first couple of minutes I doubt any fullback would have been able to tell from where he was postioned if O'Sullivan was behind or in front of the 40. He would be relying on others to relay the information. I think if you watch the replay Bulla looks to be saying (to Skelton I think) something like you said he was out. Having said that he was caught well infield so his positioning was not great.

My gut feel is that both AD and Bula are (subconsciously) trying to protect their shoulders so are not taking on the man in the collision and are trying to go around them - pushing the attack sideways and making them easy targets. Given neither had a great passing game to start with playing with a damaged shoulder limits the passing game further and makes it difficult for those outside.

Given their importance to the team I think that if I was Benji I would have probably made a similar call in playing them to keep the season alive. Now that opportunity has all but passed there is no need to flog the dead horses; get em fixed and focus on assessing and developing players for 2027.

 

[TheEnz]

I did some numbers on Bula pre and post injury in the deep dive thread and there is a significant drop off in perfomance on both sides of the pill (go here to dig into the detail). The issue is that the contract was signed while he was out injured so while it is highly likely it is the injury causing the issues the contract saga can't be thrown out the window. I am giving him the benefit of the doubt; but now the season is cooked we probably should have him and AD scheduled for early surgery.

In relation to the kick in the first couple of minutes I doubt any fullback would have been able to tell from where he was postioned if O'Sullivan was behind or in front of the 40. He would be relying on others to relay the information. I think if you watch the replay Bulla looks to be saying (to Skelton I think) something like you said he was out. Having said that he was caught well infield so his positioning was not great.

My gut feel is that both AD and Bula are (subconsciously) trying to protect their shoulders so are not taking on the man in the collision and are trying to go around them - pushing the attack sideways and making them easy targets. Given neither had a great passing game to start with playing with a damaged shoulder limits the passing game further and makes it difficult for those outside.

Given their importance to the team I think that if I was Benji I would have probably made a similar call in playing them to keep the season alive. Now that opportunity has all but passed there is no need to flog the dead horses; get em fixed and focus on assessing and developing players for 2027.

It still pissed me off a bit that he did not show more urgency to get to that ball....He could have grabbed it and made it 15-20m up field as it was a low kick and the defenders would have been well behind it, rather than allow them to set their defensive line and pin us down. And yes it was Skelton that called O'sullivan as outside the 40, he must be the dumbest player in a team with generally very low Footy IQ.

 

[Vicious]

It still pissed me off a bit that he did not show more urgency to get to that ball....He could have grabbed it and made it 15-20m up field as it was a low kick and the defenders would have been well behind it, rather than allow them to set their defensive line and pin us down. And yes it was Skelton that called O'sullivan as outside the 40, he must be the dumbest player in a team with generally very low Footy IQ.

Why are we the only team in the entire NRL to simply watch a ball go out for a 20/20 restart to the opposition throughout the whole 2026 season?
I understand the fullback ideally wants a call from his team mates, but surely common sense says if unsure to simply grab the ball and play on, not take any chances?
I would love to see Jahream make just 1 line break from a kick return or just any line break before the 2026 season ends, anyone confident it will happen?

 

[Mighty_Tiger]

Why are we the only team in the entire NRL to simply watch a ball go out for a 20/20 restart to the opposition throughout the whole 2026 season?
I understand the fullback ideally wants a ball from his team mates, but surely common sense says if unsure to simply grab the ball and play on, not take any chances?
I would love to see Jahream make just 1 line break from a kick return or just any line break before the 2026 season ends, anyone confident it will happen?

My biggest issue with this team is intent.
We cut corners often and look for easy ways out.
We don’t attack the game and Bula play highlights the mentality of our side right now.

We have started multiple games sluggish and you could see it a by a mile in the warm up intensity as well.

For the Bulldogs Luai sat back, May a prop didn’t touch the ball, we started with Api on the bench. The mentality was just all negative and lazy across the park.

 

[davey_farrell]

My biggest issue with this team is intent.
We cut corners often and look for easy ways out.
We don’t attack the game and Bula play highlights the mentality of our side right now.

We have started multiple games sluggish and you could see it a by a mile in the warm up intensity as well.

For the Bulldogs Luai sat back, May a prop didn’t touch the ball, we started with Api on the bench. The mentality was just all negative and lazy across the park.

I wish the coach would give us answers to this, very frustrating as a supporter to see this