![\"Jahream](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/6c00776dfef703eceb9eeac4ea056317a5f8963c.jpeg\")
<\/p>\nRegardless of whether the Tigers win another game this year, they\u2019re already playing with house money. Most would agree that nine victories is better than a break-even outcome, given their starting point. It is their best return from any season since 2019.<\/p>\n
Now the challenge is to finish this campaign in the strongest possible fashion and lay the foundations for a full-scale finals assault next year.<\/p>\n
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Jahream Bula collected two wooden spoons after his first two NRL seasons.Credit: Getty Images<\/p>\n
The Tigers haven\u2019t featured in the play-offs since 2011 \u2013 the longest period any NRL team has spent in the post-season wilderness \u2013 but now they are daring to dream.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we\u2019ve got the team to do it, to take it all the way,\u201d Tigers fullback Jahream Bula said. \u201cWe\u2019ve just got to keep building these combinations for next year \u2026 but we\u2019ve got a job to do this year. We\u2019ve got three more games left, so we\u2019re just going to take it one at a time and hopefully get a win in all of them.\u201d<\/p>\n
A finals appearance next season would be a realisation of the three-year plan Shane Richardson put in place when he was initially appointed as chief executive of the long-suffering, joint-venture club.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ve got to stick to the plan \u2026 that\u2019s the only way you get yourself out of the shit,\u201d Richardson said in a recent interview with ABC radio, before adding: \u201cPeople don\u2019t realise how hard it is to turn around unsuccessful clubs.\u201d<\/p>\n
Richardson has been forced to deal with some curveballs, in particular the soap opera that culminated in the release of playmaking tyro Lachlan Galvin to Canterbury.<\/p>\n
The Galvin saga received saturation media coverage for weeks, and it did not augur well when the Tigers slumped to four consecutive losses after his departure. But they have overcome that distraction and regrouped to win four of their past six games.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve moved on from that,\u201d Bula said of Galvin\u2019s exit. \u201cWe just focus on what we need to do now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Their late-season revival has coincided with Adam Doueihi\u2019s move into the halves to replace Galvin.<\/p>\n
Doueihi\u2019s form over the past month has been arguably the best of his career, prompting the Tigers to re-sign the injury-plagued 27-year-old for a further two seasons<\/a>, just as St George Illawarra prepared to swoop.<\/p>\n They have also extended the tenure of centre Starford To\u2019a for a further two seasons and were hoping to upgrade former Penrith utility back Taylan May, who joined them on a train-and-trial contract, to a full-time deal.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, they have been active in the player market for next season, signing English back-rower Kai Pearce-Paul from Newcastle, Mavrik Geyer (Penrith) and Jock Madden (Brisbane), as well as highly rated rookies Ethan Roberts (Roosters) and Javon Andrews (Titans).<\/p>\n Despite all the controversy sparked by the exits of Galvin and young hooker Tallyn Da Silva<\/a> (to Parramatta), the Tigers have overcome those setbacks to salvage some respect from 2025. And there would seem no reason why they can\u2019t continue the upward trend next year, when the roster reinforcements arrive to boost a squad that is already shaping up positively.<\/p>\n Loading<\/p>\n As coach Benji Marshall said after beating Manly: \u201cThe last couple of weeks we\u2019ve found what works for us in our style and the way we need to play \u2026 we\u2019ve always had effort, we\u2019ve had effort and competed on most of our games this year.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s about putting together the smarts of our footy, the way we want to play, the weapons that we do have and put it onto the field.\u201d<\/p>\n One of those weapons is 23-year-old Bula, for whom wins were few and far between (eight from 39 games) in his first two NRL seasons.<\/p>\n \u201cI experienced two wooden spoons, so it\u2019s good to be off the bottom of the ladder \u2026 I think we\u2019ve just improved a lot from the past two years, and I think that\u2019s a big step for us,\u201d Bula said. \u201cWe\u2019ve just got to keep building off of that.\u201d<\/p>\n NRL is Live and Free on Channel 9 & 9Now<\/a><\/p>\n