Signings, Suggestions & Rumours Discussion

I’m struggling to judge Bula at the moment.

I see what you’re saying but I honestly think if you put Edwards, Drinkwater or Kennedy at the back they would struggle as well. Brimson and Walsh might be different due to instant speed hit but also wouldn’t be as effective as they are at current clubs.

He can’t do it on his own and I’m finding our attacking structures to be flat again without deception most times and mechanical left/right/left shifts which aren’t beneficial to a fullback in today’s game. He is getting zero space but when he does we have seen whilst limited things happen.

I mentioned few games back we look like Bud and Sezer are playing counting numbers & getting more convinced by that based on our shifting style & when Galvin gets the ball. It’s reactive shifting. Galvin is the only one that tries something and Api in the danger zone despite numbers.

If you look at all the other fullbacks they are often outside the half/58th or beside the ruck on the 2nd or 3rd rapid play the ball - they common key is they have some space on front foot either way which doesn’t happen for Bula. But Bula is positioning himself better in attack this year compared to last and on both sides which does show progress.

His effort areas are fine the issue is his team or he isn’t positioning well enough to use his skills. I do have doubt about his speed impact off the mark and ball playing but when he gets a sniff he does break free it’s just tough to judge.

He has shown especially off Galvin their is a combination to build off but then on the other side it’s ghost town (put that down to Sezer, lack of 13 & poor center option.) Sezer we knew wasn’t going to be a running threat but his kicking game / buy time was why he was here - with Luai who is attack focused will be very interesting to see how things evolve.

His try scoring % of teams tries for fullbacks put him top 3 fullbacks in the comp, his try involvements are bottom 3 but our overall attack is last which is unfair to target this on Bula primarily.
Some very good points you raise.
I certainly have not disregarded the fact he could be the real deal, but would like to see him have a man of the match performance and win us the game sometime soon, hopefully Saturday.
 
Some very good points you raise.
I certainly have not disregarded the fact he could be the real deal, but would like to see him have a man of the match performance and win us the game sometime soon, hopefully Saturday.
Who was your man of the match in round 3 against the Sharks? I've also seen in Bula in a lot of peoples 3,2,1 after the games are you saying that the general consensus of Bula is wrong & only yours is right?
 
I’m struggling to judge Bula at the moment.

I see what you’re saying but I honestly think if you put Edwards, Drinkwater or Kennedy at the back they would struggle as well. Brimson and Walsh might be different due to instant speed hit but also wouldn’t be as effective as they are at current clubs.

He can’t do it on his own and I’m finding our attacking structures to be flat again without deception most times and mechanical left/right/left shifts which aren’t beneficial to a fullback in today’s game. He is getting zero space but when he does we have seen whilst limited things happen.

I mentioned few games back we look like Bud and Sezer are playing counting numbers & getting more convinced by that based on our shifting style & when Galvin gets the ball. It’s reactive shifting. Galvin is the only one that tries something and Api in the danger zone despite numbers.

If you look at all the other fullbacks they are often outside the half/58th or beside the ruck on the 2nd or 3rd rapid play the ball - they common key is they have some space on front foot either way which doesn’t happen for Bula. But Bula is positioning himself better in attack this year compared to last and on both sides which does show progress.

His effort areas are fine the issue is his team or he isn’t positioning well enough to use his skills. I do have doubt about his speed impact off the mark and ball playing but when he gets a sniff he does break free it’s just tough to judge.

He has shown especially off Galvin their is a combination to build off but then on the other side it’s ghost town (put that down to Sezer, lack of 13 & poor center option.) Sezer we knew wasn’t going to be a running threat but his kicking game / buy time was why he was here - with Luai who is attack focused will be very interesting to see how things evolve.

His try scoring % of teams tries for fullbacks put him top 3 fullbacks in the comp, his try involvements are bottom 3 but our overall attack is last which is unfair to target this on Bula primarily.
Great post. The 3 fullbacks you mention have had 3 years or more in the same team with largely unchanged halves and Bula has played 24 NRL games.

I think as long as he's being coached to improve his ball playing and we start to have some stability in the halves he will keep improving.
 
What do you mean you don’t believe he is on a 4 year deal? 😂 why would the west tigers lie about how long they signed him for?

There are often options in players contracts, that only get released closer to the end of the contract. Like with Stefano. I recall at the time someone said there was a club option involved in at east one of the years of his contract.

When you think about it, do you really think Sheens would have signed an injury prone Dragons reserve grade player on a 4x500k deal? Even for a club that makes poor decisions not even we are dumb enough to do that! There would be conditions in the contract for sure, and 500k would be the peak he could earn in a given year across the deal, not the yearly average
 
I’d look at loaning Sullivan to super league for one season. Gives him the best chance to develop into a NRL half as he is too good for NSW cup at this stage. Whether he’d be interested….
 
I’d look at loaning Sullivan to super league for one season. Gives him the best chance to develop into a NRL half as he is too good for NSW cup at this stage. Whether he’d be interested….
I don‘t think it’s going to happen. Have to accept we have invested in a lemon.
 
Personally I'd rather sign players who, y'know, play football. If we want a standards setter and culture we could give another contract to Matt Ballin. The brutal truth is that the Sharks gave Finucane a three-year deal for which they're going to get 33 games. I don't care if the bloke is Alexander the Great, Tony Robbins and Alexei Stakhanov rolled into one, that's a signing that didn't work out.
You aren’t considering the intangible things Finucane implemented in that club. But that’s okay, we all see things differently.
 
I’m struggling to judge Bula at the moment.

I see what you’re saying but I honestly think if you put Edwards, Drinkwater or Kennedy at the back they would struggle as well. Brimson and Walsh might be different due to instant speed hit but also wouldn’t be as effective as they are at current clubs.

He can’t do it on his own and I’m finding our attacking structures to be flat again without deception most times and mechanical left/right/left shifts which aren’t beneficial to a fullback in today’s game. He is getting zero space but when he does we have seen whilst limited things happen.

I mentioned few games back we look like Bud and Sezer are playing counting numbers & getting more convinced by that based on our shifting style & when Galvin gets the ball. It’s reactive shifting. Galvin is the only one that tries something and Api in the danger zone despite numbers.

If you look at all the other fullbacks they are often outside the half/58th or beside the ruck on the 2nd or 3rd rapid play the ball - they common key is they have some space on front foot either way which doesn’t happen for Bula. But Bula is positioning himself better in attack this year compared to last and on both sides which does show progress.

His effort areas are fine the issue is his team or he isn’t positioning well enough to use his skills. I do have doubt about his speed impact off the mark and ball playing but when he gets a sniff he does break free it’s just tough to judge.

He has shown especially off Galvin their is a combination to build off but then on the other side it’s ghost town (put that down to Sezer, lack of 13 & poor center option.) Sezer we knew wasn’t going to be a running threat but his kicking game / buy time was why he was here - with Luai who is attack focused will be very interesting to see how things evolve.

His try scoring % of teams tries for fullbacks put him top 3 fullbacks in the comp, his try involvements are bottom 3 but our overall attack is last which is unfair to target this on Bula primarily.
You are on the mark with this analysis. In conclusion, we need to create more momentum and broken field play so that our fullback gets more opportunities in space. Having big strong fast outside backs who do more in yardage sets is key to this.
 

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