Wests Tigers star fullback Jahream Bula addresses contract speculation

Jahream Bula has addressed speculation around his future at the Wests Tigers, after spending the off-season training with sprint guru Roger Fabri and former teammate, Lachlan Galvin. WATCH the exclusive video.

It took a New York freshen-up and complete disconnection from the rugby league world, but Jahream Bula is back preparing for what is the biggest season of his career.

Off-contract at the end of 2026, Bula’s future has dominated headlines for the past few weeks, with the Wests Tigers desperate to extend the one-club player well beyond their mutual option for 2027.

And despite walking back into a mountain of speculation about where he will end up beyond next season, the 23-year-old knows there’s no escaping the talk around his future ahead of the biggest decision of his career.

He just has to find ways to deal with it.

Off-contract Tigers star Jahream Bula is set for the biggest season of his career in 2026. Picture: Getty Images

“You can’t hide from it,” Bula said.

“I feel safe when I’m with my wife, my family, because I know I can be authentic around them, their love won’t change for me.

“They don’t need me to be anyone else, they just need me to be myself and that’s the biggest thing for me because everyone wants you to be who they want you to be for them. But I’d rather be myself, and whoever wants to be around me can be around me.”

While a decision is yet to be made on Bula’s career, the Tigers fullback says his focus is on playing well for Benji Marshall’s side next year and nothing else.

Bula and his wife Aaliyah spent the past couple of weeks in America, where they were able to completely shut off from the rugby league world and live what he described as a movie.

While Aaliyah is the most pivotal member of Jahream’s circle, the fullback has been no stranger to returning the favour and supporting those closest to him.

Bula with his wife Aaliyah

Bula has spent the off-season training with former teammate, Bulldogs halfback Lachlan Galvin, as part of sprint guru Roger Fabri’s newest influx of talent.

The Fijian international was one of Galvin’s biggest supporters throughout the year during his departure from the Tigers.

He was even in the crowd for one of Galvin’s first games for his new club.

Bula admitted the pair have grown closer since he left the Tigers.

“I love Lachie, he’s a good kid. It was pretty tough seeing what he had to go through. No kid, no 18-year-old kid should be able to go through that pressure that everyone puts on him,” Bula said.

“I just wanted to be an ear for him and check up on him. I think our relationship grew after that.

“We trained with Roger together. And yeah Lachie surprised me at how quick he got. He was almost faster than me. I was like whoa, that’s insane.”

Landing back in Sydney on Monday, Bula is preparing to rejoin the Tigers for pre-season next week, excited by the prospect of what his team is capable of next year.

Bula (right) has spent the off-season training with sprint coach Rodger Fabri (left). Picture: Thomas Lisson

In promising news for Tigers fans, Bula believes the club is getting better at handling the pressure and has the players to break their 14-year finals drought.

“Off the back of last year, there’s a lot of confidence going into this year because we know the things that we need to work on,“ Bula said.

“We’ve also got the players to do it. We got Jarome, we got Api, we’ve got some good forwards, Terrell, Royce, Fonua. We’ve got a good back line too.

“We’ve definitely got the team. We just need to really gel together and stay close to each other and just focus on playing footy.”

Spending a large part of the off-season with him, Fabri believes Bula has the same tools as the best fullbacks he’s trained, in James Tedesco and Jarryd Hayne.

He has even gone as far as to urge all clubs to keep an eye on Bula as he progresses into what Fabri believes will be the fullback’s best year in the game.

“If you went to a horse sale, and that kid comes into the parade ring, he’s one of the guys you want to be paying top dollar for,” Fabri said.

“Not only does he look like an athlete, but once you actually see him move, this one actually bounces differently.”

Bula with former teammate Lachlan Galvin. Picture: Richard Dobson

Fabri recently trained Jason Saab for a 100m sprint, which saw the winger record a sub-11-second time, and he believes Bula has as much potential as the NRL’s fastest man.

Since training with the sprint coach, Fabri said Bula has improved by four metres on his sprints.

“If he was 11.50 running (when he started), he’d be running 11.1 now,” Fabri said.

“Most of my national athletes wouldn’t get that in a lifetime, he got that in five weeks.

“Saab ran a national qualifier, I can’t see why Jahream couldn’t as well.”

Bula will enter next season with the Tigers as one of the most talked-about fullbacks in the game, headlining a list of off-contract No.1s.

Bulldogs fullback Connor Tracey, Sharks veteran Will Kennedy and Dolphins flyer Trai Fuller will all enter the final years of their contracts in the 2026 season.

Originally published as Wests Tigers star fullback Jahream Bula addresses contract speculation