Jayson Bukuya

Jayson Bukuya

Personal information
Full name	Jayson Bukuya
Born	(1989-04-21) 21 April 1989 (age 36) Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Playing information
Height	180 cm (5 ft 11 in)
Weight	95 kg (14 st 13 lb)
Position	Second-row, Lock
Club Years Team Pld T G FG P 2008–13 Cronulla Sharks 59 13 0 0 52 2014 New Zealand Warriors 18 2 0 0 8 2015–19 Cronulla Sharks 110 11 0 0 44 Total 187 26 0 0 104 Representative Years Team Pld T G FG P 2008–19 Fiji 20 7 0 0 28
Source: [1] [2]

Jayson Bukuya (born 21 April 1989) is a former Fiji international rugby league footballer who played as a lock or second-row forward for the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks in the NRL.

Bukuya previously played for Cronulla and the New Zealand Warriors in the National Rugby League. He has part of the Sharks team that won their maiden premiership title in the 2016 season. Bukuya also played a prominent role for Newtown Jets during their 2019 campaign, where they lifted the highly coveted Canterbury Cup.

Background

Bukuya was born in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Bukuya is of Fijian descent.

He attended Sandgate District State High School and St Patrick's College, Shorncliffe. He was also an Aspley and Norths Brisbane junior. ^{[3] [4]}

Playing career

2008-13

Bukuya made his National Rugby League debut for the Cronulla Sharks in 2008. Bukuya played all 4 games for Fiji at the 2008 World Cup, and was again named in the Fiji squad for the 2013 Rugby League World Cup. ^[5] During his first stint with the Sharks, Bukuya played in 59 NRL games, and scored 13 tries.

2014

He joined the New Zealand Warriors for the 2014 season. He finished off the year playing 18 NRL games and scoring 2 tries. On 1 November 2014, Bukuya was released from his Warriors' contract on compassionate grounds to return to Sydney. ^[6]

2015-2019

On 11 November 2014, Bukuya signed a two-year deal to rejoin the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks. ^[7] In 2016, he was a part of the Sharks maiden premiership winning grand final team. ^[8] In 2017, Bukuya was part of the Cronulla side which qualified for the finals but were eliminated in week one after suffering a shock defeat by North Queensland Cowboys 15–14. In 2018, Bukuya made 21 appearances for Cronulla as the club reached the preliminary final before being defeated by Melbourne Storm 22–6. ^{[9] [10]}

Bukuya made a total of 16 appearances for Cronulla in the 2019 NRL season. Bukuya played for Cronulla's feeder club Newtown in their 2019 Canterbury Cup NSW grand final victory over Wentworthville at the Western Sydney Stadium. ^[11] The following week, Bukuya played for Newtown in the NRL State Championship victory over the Burleigh Bears at ANZ Stadium. ^[12]

Post playing

On 13 June 2020, Bukuya announced his retirement from rugby league effective immediately. ^[13]

On 18 July 2020, Bukuya played for Dubbo CYMS against North Sydney in the first round of a state-wide open competition. ^[14]

Statistics

Year	Team	Games	Tries	Pts
2008	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	2
2011		11	2	8
2012		24	4	16
2013		22	7	28
2014	New Zealand Warriors	18	2	8
2015	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	24	2	8
2016		25	4	16
2017		23	3	12
2018		21	2	8
2019		16
	Totals	187	26	104

References

1. Jason Bukuya Rugby League Project
2. Cronulla Sharks profile
3. "Cronulla back rower signs NZ Warriors deal". Stuff. 13 May 2013. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
4. "Jayson Bukuya". NRL. 30 March 2009. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
5. "Civoniceva, Wes Naiqama to lead Fiji Bati". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 26 December 2015.
6. Media, NRL Digital (November 2014). "Vodafone Warriors sign Thompson".
7. "Bukuya returns to Sharks on two-year deal". NRL - The official site of the National Rugby League - NRL.com. 11 November 2014.
8. "2016 Grand Final: Sharks player ratings". 2 October 2016.
9. "LIVE: Storm and Sharks go head-to-head".
10. Perry, Sam (10 September 2017). "Cowboys beat Sharks in NRL elimination final – as it happened". The Guardian.
11. "Newtown reign supreme in epic decider". NSWRL. 29 September 2019.
12. "Newtown Jets steal the State Championship with a last second freak try". Sporting News. 14 August 2021.
13. "Jayson Bukuya retires from Rugby League". www.nrl.com. 13 June 2020.
14. "Round 1 Team Lists". www.playrugbyleague.com.

External links

• Cronulla Sharks profile
• Sharks profile
• League Central profile