Jahream Bula will become the first Keebra Park High graduate since the great Benji Marshall to debut for the Wests Tigers at fullback at Campbelltown Sports Stadium.
Except good judges around Concord will tell you Bula is a lot faster, a lot taller, and a lot better looking.
There has been a lot of hype about the 21-year-old Bula since he started on a train-and-trial deal at the club over the summer.
He has been labelled the fittest player at the club and has easily held his own against the first-grade side during opposed sessions.
And his ability to cover so much ground has not been lost on the coaching staff, who have become frustrated with the amount of tries the Tigers are conceding from kicks.
At 187 centimetres tall, Bula, who was born in Auckland and has Fijian and Indigenous heritage, briefly quit rugby league a few years ago to focus on basketball.
Wests Tigers debutant Jahream BulaCredit: Wests Tigers
He was training with the Gold Coast Titans, but tossed it all in to head to the US, where he looked at different colleges. But then he injured his ankle before COVID shut down the world and his hoops dream.
Trey Peni, Bula’s old Keebra Park captain and best friend, was at the Tigers and told him he should try his luck at the joint-venture club.
After the Tigers’ recruitment team made some inquiries, and ran their eye over some old footage, they offered him a development deal.
Wests Tigers cubs: Trey Peni and Jahream BulaCredit: Wests Tigers
Peni could not be happier for his best mate, who debuts against Manly on Sunday afternoon. Marshall, who debuted at the same venue 20 years ago – he came on as a replacement at fullback – will be in the coach’s box.
“I’m so happy for him, just really proud, we’ve been in the trenches together, and always dreamed of this day coming,” Peni told the Herald.
“It makes me emotional because this is all we ever wanted. I’ve known him since he was 14. We’re best mates. Everyone calls us twins. But I’m the better-looking one.
“He’ll handle it on Sunday. I think he can [go all the way]. I thought he could have gone a long way in basketball.”
Benji Marshall was the last Keebra Park graduate to debut at fullback for the Wests Tigers, way back in 2003.Credit: Anthony Johnson
Bula embarrasses some of his Tigers teammates when shooting hoops at the back of the club’s $78 million Centre of Excellence.
Keebra Park’s head of rugby league Peter Norman recalled Bula pulling off 360 dunks when he was only in year 10.
Norman said Bula, who played centre at school, had that “natural football instinct” you could not coach, and “they’re the exciting players we love”.
Tigers coach Tim Sheens spoke glowingly about Bula during an open training session over the summer, and told the Herald the rookie would “be a kid who comes out of nowhere”.
There were some on Sheens’ coaching staff who thought Bula was ready to debut back in round one. Daine Laurie and Charlie Staines were the two recognised fullbacks in the top-30 squad, but Bula was rated better than those two when it came to defence.
Manly halfback Daly Cherry-Evans has left plenty of top-line fullbacks nursing a good bout of heartburn after terrorising them with his kicking game, but the Tigers know Bula is ready.
He would not have been allowed play so early in the season had he not been upgraded to the top squad and then extended until the end of 2025 this week.
“He’s athletic, he plays the position well, he’s only young but a good kid,” Sheens said. “I just want him to play his natural game. I don’t expect him to win us the game, I just want him to do his job.”
