Tigers No.1 couple embrace Indigenous Round

After becoming the first husband and wife to celebrate Indigenous Round at the same club, Jahream and Aaliyah Bula are aiming to both wear the Wests Tigers No.1 jersey on a regular basis.

Jahream will make his 54th NRL appearance at fullback for Wests Tigers in Sunday’s Gadhu Gathering clash with Manly at Allianz Stadium and he is helping to prepare Aaliyah to play the same position for the club’s NRLW team.

“Footy’s our life,” Aaliyah said. “We go home and do video together, and we just help each other out.

“He’s obviously a lot more wise than me. I'm just learning to play fullback too, so the things that we have in common definitely help us.”

The couple, who both grew up playing basketball before focusing on league, first met through their involvement with Redfern Youth Connect, a non-profit youth drop-in-centre.

Bula worked there as a youth worker before becoming an NRL star, while Aaliyah’s parents, Solomon and Margaret Haumono, a cousin of Anthony Mundine, established the centre more than a decade ago and still run it.

“That’s where it started,” Bula said. “We just found we had heaps in common.”

Redfern Youth Connect is the charity partner of Wests Tigers for Sunday's Gadhu Gathering double-header at Allianz Stadium.

The organisation will be the beneficiary of the club's 50-50 Charity Raffle, with 50% of funds raised going directly to support programs run by Redfern Youth Connect.

“Our capacity has changed now since going kind of fulltime in footy but we still try to be there as much as we can,” Aaliyah said.

After giving up basketball to follow her famous father – a star forward with the Sea Eagles, Bulldogs, Dragons and Balmain Tigers - into league, Aaliyah has enjoyed stints with Manly and Parramatta before joining Bula at Wests Tigers.

Signed on a development contract this season, the 21-year-old has been playing in the club’s Harvey Norman Women’s Premiership team as she edges closer to an NRLW debut for Wests Tigers.

“I am playing a little bit of fullback this year. I haven’t done that at reps level before, I have played in the [Koori] Knockout and things like that, but it's pretty special to learn of Ream,” Aailiyah said.

“At the moment I have been playing Harveys and I’m just learning as much as I can from the older girls in the team.

"Noddy [Wests Tigers coach Brett Kimmorley] is really good and Kezie [Apps] and Salah [Togatuki] have been great too. They're helping me out a lot.”

Asked what it meant to play in Indigenous Round, Bula said:” It’s pretty special, I get to represent my culture with my wife for the same team. Not many people can say that they have done that”.

Wests Tigers had a bye last weekend but the NRL has expanded Indigenous Round over two weekends and included the NRLW teams – a move widely endorsed by the players.

The club is part of the Gandu Gathering, featuring Indigenous Round matches at Allianz Stadium over three days, and will host a double header on Sunday, with the NRLW team taking on the Dragons and the NRL side facing the Sea Eagles.