Tigers confident Bula will stay on long-term extension
Scott Bailey |
Wests Tigers have opened talks with Jahream Bula over a long-term extension at the club, confident the fullback will now take up a new multi-year deal for beyond 2026.
Bula remains the highest-profile fullback available to sign for 2027, with a mutual clause in his current Tigers contract effectively making him a free agent.
The 23-year-old’s current deal expires at the end of 2026, but the Tigers have an option in their favour to extend it for a further year at close to $900,000.
Bula also has an option in his favour to extend the deal into 2027, on a salary of around $800,000.
There had been questions over Bula’s future at the Tigers, particularly after he switched management companies to Isaac Moses’ Cove Agency.
Moses had overseen Lachlan Galvin’s controversial exit from the Tigers earlier this year.
But those clauses would effectively become redundant if a new longer deal was struck, with the Tigers having met with Bula’s management in recent weeks.
“I don’t want to do a pick-up of the option, I want to do an extension long term,” Tigers CEO Shane Richardson told AAP.
“He wants to be here. Unlike Galvin, who didn’t want to be here, he wants to be here.
“You never count your chickens until they hatch, but I am pretty confident we will get it done.”
The Tigers have also met with Jarome Luai’s management in recent weeks, and Richardson remains confident the playmaker will see out his five-year deal.
Luai too has a clause that would allow him to leave the Tigers at the end of next year, but has said he will stay on provided the club do right by him and his family.
His commitment, and Bula’s long-term extension, would come as a massive coup to the Tigers after they showed signs of improvement under Benji Marshall last season.
While there are still questions over the No.6 jersey, the club has yearned for stability in the spine for almost eight years now.
“We’re locked in virtually then until the end of 2028. We have a team together with maybe one or two changes to it,” Richardson said.
“We are locked in against Papua New Guinea’s (2028) entry, secured against the Bears (2027 arrival) and we’re in a good demographic and age of the players.
“Jahream wants to stay.
“You don’t rush these things because you have to do a deal. And you want to talk to the player and make sure he is comfortable and wants to be here.
“If a player doesn’t want to be here, we won’t have him here. And I’ve made those decisions before. But Jahream wants to be here.”
Richardson’s confidence came as the Tigers opened a new office in Campbelltown this week, which will become a base for pathways, community and education in south-west Sydney.
Desperate to make better use of local juniors, Richardson has also confirmed the Tigers will play at least seven home games a year at Campbelltown from 2029 and four at Leichhardt.
“It’s a final statement that we are committed and embedded in the area,” Richardson said.
AAP
