Jayson Bukuya

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

Jayson "Boogie" Bukuya
Personal information
Full nameJayson Bukuya
Born (1989-04-21) 21 April 1989
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Playing information
Height180 cm (5 ft 11 in)
Weight95 kg (14 st 13 lb)
PositionSecond-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
2008–2022 Fiji 52 22 0 0 20
Source: [1][2]

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 during their 2019 campaign, where they lifted the highly coveted Canterbury Cup. He is now classified as a dual premiership winner.

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-present

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 15–14. In 2018, Bukuya made 21 appearances for Cronulla as the club reached the preliminary final before being defeated by Melbourne 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]

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]

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.
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