Signings, Suggestions & Rumours Discussion

[WestsEffTheRest]

Name his successes in this area….Ill wait.

Heamasi Makasini
Fonua Pole
Adam Doueihi
Taylan May
Starford To’a
Alex Seyfarth
Api Koroisau
Jared Haywood
Pheonix Godinet
Christian Taupau Moors

 

[weststigers]

Very good LOL, we’ll see….
Listen, you are missing the point as well. Whether he ended up with a stronger squad or not, that was not his plan. He wanted and actively tried to sign those other players and that’s my point.

I got the point. He's not batting at 100%.

But who is?

 

[king_sirro]

Only replacement I’d be happy with if Bula walks is Koula or Papi. I have, however, zero faith our club will look into either one of those lol.

Definitely not Paps, but I'd offer very good money for Koula to play fullback.

 

[king_sirro]

if bula leaves
turuva to fullback
skelton wing
makasini wing

There nothing wrong with doing this but also having Turuva and Makasini switch when in attacking positions. Minichiello and RTS did it with success when RTS came on the scene. I would see that being a nice transition for Makasini

 

[Fainu Brothers]

is their a world were makasini becomes a fullback

I was thinking the same thing, i believe he has been training a bit at fullback this offseason

 

[crazycat]

I don't understand the fascination with Jahream. Sure, he's a nice guy and we're light on options, but let's be honest, he doesn't crack the top 10 in any stat as a fullback.

If it means we have one less player in our squad being manipulated by Isaac Moses, then that's a bonus. I can't wait to watch Gus' house of cards crumble, just like their run did with Galvin last year.

Look, Jahream is good/very good but not great... yet.

Throwing this at ChatGPT to make a point:

Feature	Jahream Bula (2025)	Top Elite Fullbacks (Tedesco, Edwards, Walsh, Trbojevic, Ponga)
Running metres	~168 m/game — strong, but below elite leaders	Often significantly higher (200 m+ games)
Try scoring	8 tries — good for mid-tier side	Elite fullbacks often 10+ tries with better team support
Try assists	~7 — decent creative involvement	Top fullbacks often surpass this in attack creation
Defense & reliability	Improving but Tigers defense middling	Elite fullbacks typically better team defense & support

Bula is clearly not a top 10 fullback. He would be in the top 30 backs, maybe...

If we lose him it just sets us back quite a way...we need to start again, i want stability in the spine players.
He has improvement in him im sure of.that....apparently theres heaps of #1's off contract but only name.ive seen put forth is conor tracy and hes a step backwards imo

Which I think is the problem.
There are a stack of #1's but I can't think of any that would be better then Bula.
He seems the best we have got in the position.

I kinda wonder though. Each team has a 9m cap and if you min/max and sign 10x cheapies, that leaves 8 million spare. If you are lucky thats 4 1m players.
How would we upgrade Bula? if he is on 1m or 1.2m which is likely going to be the case... How would we get a top 1 fullback.

 

[twentyforty]

I'm not about to dump on a bloke of Richo's standing because of what happened here. This joint has also let go of two underperforming coaches who immediately won premierships with their new clubs. We only sack people with ability.

And that my friend is the biggest issue we have, which destroys their momentum and halts progress.
The nutters at the top can earn the respect they keep demanding when they start valuing ideas more than personalities. Any top operator will find it tough going in this sort of culture.
There was a time when we couldn’t find a captain, so we had 5. It was fn sad to see them having a discussion on the meaning of leadership.

 

[Buttface]

Look, Jahream is good/very good but not great... yet.

Throwing this at ChatGPT to make a point:

Feature	Jahream Bula (2025)	Top Elite Fullbacks (Tedesco, Edwards, Walsh, Trbojevic, Ponga)
Running metres	~168 m/game — strong, but below elite leaders	Often significantly higher (200 m+ games)
Try scoring	8 tries — good for mid-tier side	Elite fullbacks often 10+ tries with better team support
Try assists	~7 — decent creative involvement	Top fullbacks often surpass this in attack creation
Defense & reliability	Improving but Tigers defense middling	Elite fullbacks typically better team defense & support

Bula is clearly not a top 10 fullback. He would be in the top 30 backs, maybe...

Which I think is the problem.
There are a stack of #1's but I can't think of any that would be better then Bula.
He seems the best we have got in the position.

I kinda wonder though. Each team has a 9m cap and if you min/max and sign 10x cheapies, that leaves 8 million spare. If you are lucky thats 4 1m players.
How would we upgrade Bula? if he is on 1m or 1.2m which is likely going to be the case... How would we get a top 1 fullback.

So, he’s not worth a mill, but he sorta is to us, and might be one day.
I reckon chatsnapTPG is on the money.

 

[Tucker]

We keep saying we are a development club, yet are happy to let juniors with potentially high ceilings walk because they aren’t great RIGHT NOW.
This is idiotic madness….and it is bone lazy

 

[426Tlgerland]

That’s not true ! The uptick in performance when Turuva was replaced by Bula at the backend of last season was for all to see . The main issue with Bula , as a few smarter people on here have referred to , is whether you like him or not , he was through the teething issues and maturation of the first 50 games , and on his way to becoming whatever best version of himself . Whether you like that or not .
Even if you do believe that there are better fullbacks out there nearly , outside of say Kennedy or Tracey , will need to go into that first 50 game headache watching them mature .
Otherwise there’s nothing on the market that I would say the juice is worth the squeeze with over 50 games at nrl level at fullback .

Drinky at the cows has been mentioned a few times as an option of early release from them , he would slot in nice for couple years till the new kids ready

 

[TigerNeddyK]

Yes that seems the case historically.
I’m more reacting to the past 5 or 6 weeks of utter doomsday predictions on here, night and day and incessant.
The earth will keep turning without him.

Are you unable to see the bigger picture. Richo represented a new direction independent of the HBG nightmare controlled cesspool of failure ,, his removal in the way it was done represents that they do not want success or the change in direction, so people are rightly concerned that all the work done is thrown out in favour of more of the same 15 years of failure that HBG represent.

 

[innsaneink]

Drinky at the cows has been mentioned a few times as an option of early release from them , he would slot in nice for couple years till the new kids ready

I dont see why they would release him early...hes said himself he wants to stay there

Drinkwater confirms immediate future amid exit rumours

Reports have swirled about an early exit from the North Queensland Cowboys.

www.sen.com.au

 

[Telltails]

If Bula leaves .... same old same old.
Backing players for future key positions to not be able to retain them.
This is not the way to build a winning football team/ club.

 

[hank37w]

I’m not struggling to understand the rationale or his stats. He did alright -

• 22 games
• 12 tries
• 181 running metres

Had he not suffered an abdominal injury, he was on track to finish inside the top five of the Dally M leaderboard. Pretty good for a $500k fullback.

I stated in my initial post that if Bula leaves, Connor would be someone that I’d target.

I thought I was the only one that thought players that cop a serve on here like Will Kennedy and Connor Tracey looked okay and showed more effort than Jaream Bula for most of the season.

Admittedly Bula only played 18 games in the 2025 season while Kennedy played 27 games (which included 3 Finals games) and Tracey played 24 games.

Whatever you may think of the Dally M awards and their awarding of points, whether they are a fair gauge of a players performance can be argued, but I will use it anyway as one method of comparing and measuring the performance of these 3 players.

Up until Round 12 in the Dally M the points were as follows:

Will Kennedy 29 points and in 2nd position
Connor Tracey 18 points and in 11th position
Jaream Bula 10 points and position unknown

As at round 12, Kennedy had played all 12 games, Tracey 11 games and Bula 10 games.

After Round 18:

Will Kennedy 29 points and in 5th position
Connor Tracey 23 points and in 9th position
Jaream Bula Points and position unknown

As at round 18, Kennedy had played 16 games, Tracey 15 games and Bula 13 games.

After Round 23:

Will Kennedy 34 points and in 8th position
Connor Tracey Points and position unknown
Jaream Bula Points and position unknown

As at round 13, Kennedy had played 21 games, Tracey 18 games and Bula 14 games.

In the final wash up Kennedy finished 10th on 37 points, the position and points of the other 2 is unknown.

I know some people are going to go crazy after I have put up these Dally M figures but I am one of the first to acknowledge that we are a much better team with Bula in it, but what I do dispute is that he is currently not a $800k or 900k player especially when you consider what these other 2 players are currently on and the value for money that they offer.

 

[TYGA]

Bula needs to be extended. He’s been improving each year we need to stop developing players for other clubs.

 

[TigerNeddyK]

I really think Bula is underrated here.

But anyway, I'm far too used to this clubs failures - so haven't been sweating the result of this latest 'saga'.

If he goes, so be it. We have some make-shift options who won't be anywhere near as good, but won't be terrible - I suppose.

The thing that infuriates me about this is is that it is so representative of the lot of being wests tigers supporter. No other club is constantly in the media debating whether they will manage to retain whatever player of theirs that shows promise that they intend to resign already . It seems as though immediately a player starts to shine the media instantly begin to imagine them at other clubs . It is annoying af. The nrl salary cap is meant to prevent this from occurring. Tigers re not suooosed to be a stepping stone to supposed “A” league clubs .. us fans should be confident that players we develop and improve are being developed and improved for our clubs benefit and future . Otherwise why even bother with pathways ,, we should be able to rest easy sometimes that players at our club feel that being ast this club is the pinnacle and they can play as if being a wests tiger is the equal of being a Rooster or bronco or panther for their caareer in all aspects and areas..

 

[Tucker]

Are you unable to see the bigger picture. Richo represented a new direction independent of the HBG nightmare controlled cesspool of failure ,, his removal in the way it was done represents that they do not want success or the change in direction, so people are rightly concerned that all the work done is thrown out in favour of more of the same 15 years of failure that HBG represent.

I’ve seen the big picture far longer than you have and one day you will understand that Richo wasn’t the be all or the end all. He received high praise here due to reputation more than performance.
I appreciate him getting the money side sorted, but I’m glad someone else is running the footy side.

 

[The Chad]

Losing Bula would be a bad loss. We haven't seen the best of him yet.

That said, Will Kennedy or Connor Tracey, Attard or Turuva would do the job at fullback for the Tigers.

Not as well, and others would need to step up, but they are all capable first grade players- Tracey & Kennedy playing in far more successful teams than what we have put on the field of late.

As Tucker said- we are self labelled as a 'development club'. While that means we should promote a lot of our juniors it also comes with the risk of developing players for other clubs to pinch. Happens to a number of Premier League clubs (Southampton is a great example). What is important is that the production line of Bula's doesn't stop at....Bula. There needs to be someone else coming through again. Could be Attard.

Development clubs become successful clubs when the sheer volume of players coming through populate the squad in the way Penrith do now. You'll notice that despite staying premiership threats that the Panthers lose a number of junior players every year.

The faster we get to that, and the further we get away from the club that had to bring in James Tamou to build culture, the better. (Not a dig at Tamou- I actually thought he was better than given credit for). The good news is, despite the potential to lose Bula, we are still looking at Attard, Heywood, Godinet, Makasini etc coming through as well.

 

[crazycat]

IMHO, counting Seyfarth as a player is a huge mistake! He even couldn’t be considered for Antarctica’s over 90’s!

Seyfarth counts, it just depends where.

2025 he started ok, then collapsed half way through the year when he was a starting 2rf.
Wrong position, wrong move.

A bench spot or depth, he fits. I doubt we are going to sign better when you are talking #13-17.

 

[cktiger]

I thought I was the only one that thought players that cop a serve on here like Will Kennedy and Connor Tracey looked okay and showed more effort than Jaream Bula for most of the season.

Admittedly Bula only played 18 games in the 2025 season while Kennedy played 27 games (which included 3 Finals games) and Tracey played 24 games.

Whatever you may think of the Dally M awards and their awarding of points, whether they are a fair gauge of a players performance can be argued, but I will use it anyway as one method of comparing and measuring the performance of these 3 players.

Up until Round 12 in the Dally M the points were as follows:

Will Kennedy 29 points and in 2nd position
Connor Tracey 18 points and in 11th position
Jaream Bula 10 points and position unknown

As at round 12, Kennedy had played all 12 games, Tracey 11 games and Bula 10 games.

After Round 18:

Will Kennedy 29 points and in 5th position
Connor Tracey 23 points and in 9th position
Jaream Bula Points and position unknown

As at round 18, Kennedy had played 16 games, Tracey 15 games and Bula 13 games.

After Round 23:

Will Kennedy 34 points and in 8th position
Connor Tracey Points and position unknown
Jaream Bula Points and position unknown

As at round 13, Kennedy had played 21 games, Tracey 18 games and Bula 14 games.

In the final wash up Kennedy finished 10th on 37 points, the position and points of the other 2 is unknown.

I know some people are going to go crazy after I have put up these Dally M figures but I am one of the first to acknowledge that we are a much better team with Bula in it, but what I do dispute is that he is currently not a $800k or 900k player especially when you consider what these other 2 players are currently on and the value for money that they offer.

If your team is consistently losing its not easy to pick up points ... especially as a back.