Wests Tigers confident Bula will re-sign before season start

Wests Tigers’ interim CEO Shaun Mielekamp is confident Jahream Bula will re-sign with the club before the beginning of the 2026 season.

Bula’s contract has been a major talking point of the off-season, with the fullback having a mutual option for 2027 that allows the Wests Tigers to re-sign him for no less than $900,000 a year.

The option is valid until mid-May of this season, but Mielekamp is confident Bula, who is managed by Isaac Moses, will re-sign before March.

Asked about the unique structure of Bula’s contract, Mielekamp revealed all parties want the deal to work out, making it a matter of time.

“I do think your words are wise there around it being a unique situation,” Mielekamp told SEN 1170 Breakfast.

“But we do have a player who wants to stay. 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.

“(Isaac Moses and I) have known each other for a lot of years so… Isaac's been in my office and said hi a few times just recently so it's a good relationship.

“There's pretty clear communication, and we get on well.”

Mielekamp is also confident Jarome Luai will remain at the club in 2027, despite the fact he won’t remove player options in his contract that would allow him to exit as soon as the end of this season.

Discussions with Luai are ongoing, with Mielekamp revealing he had been a part of conversations with the club captain, allowing for some stability after Richardson’s departure.

“Fortunately, enough for me, I was part of all those conversations with Richo (Shane Richardson) so it is a very positive outlook for us about continuing that,” Mielekamp said.

“Whilst Jarome (Luai) won't be removing those clauses at any time, I don't think there's any concern from us about that.

“It's really about making sure that we just keep doing a good job, and that'll just be words on a page.

“We really keep focused on Jarome just being the skipper of the club, leading us through, and things will take care of themselves.

“We're very confident that there will be a lot of stability here with the playing roster as we move forward.

“I appreciate that (it will be a topic of discussion), and it will be for my tenure as an interim CEO.

“So, the job for us is to make sure that we look after this club… and like I said, I've got every confidence that that'll continue to just be something that's spoken about. But inside these four walls, there's a lot of strength and stability, and that's what we can focus on right now.”