Tigers confident they’ll still keep Bula despite Bulldogs turning his head

The Wests Tigers are supremely confident they’ll be able to beat the Canterbury Bulldogs in the signing market when it comes to Jahream Bula, with boss Shaun Mielekamp declaring everybody “wants him to stay.”

Bula had originally been ready to re-sign in late November, before the highly publicised Tigers civil war broke out in the boardroom. When Shane Richardson quit, whispers started that Bula wanted to leave.

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Hopes have again turned to Bula re-signing for the joint venture, The Sporting Base understands, after Benji Marshall and captain Jarome Luai spoke to the young fun number one.

While there’s no timeline on when the Bula signature may be settled, Mielekamp was clearly happy to talk about the “unique situation” on the radio recently.

“We do have a player who wants to stay,” he explained earlier this week. We’ve got a club who wants him to stay. We’ve got a coach who wants him to stay. So, you start there and you go, ‘right, things are gonna be okay’.

“It’s really just a matter of just working really closely with his agent and getting through what is the best model to make sure that we unlock this moving forward.

“It’s still a little early to actually definitively say how it’ll play out, but I’m very, very confident speaking to Jahream himself directly, and feeling really positive that everyone wants this to work.

“We just need to dot the I’s and cross the T’s and that’ll take care of itself before the season kicks off.”

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The biggest issue the Tigers may run into is Bula could draw as much as $1 million a season should he leave the joint venture. The Bulldogs are obviously interested — though would definitely not pay that full $1M — while expansion club the Perth Bears could and would if given the opportunity.

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After originally expecting a decision in mid-December, the Tigers have now told Bula he’s free to take the Christmas break to make up his mind.

The youngster will likely report back to the club with his decision in early January.