Ricky Stuart has revealed how his regret surrounding Anthony Milford’s Raiders departure could influence the club’s position in a heated battle to retain superstar Jack Wighton.
The 30-year-old playmaker dropped a bombshell on the Raiders, informing the club he would be testing the open market instead of taking up his player option for 2024.
Multiple clubs have reportedly made contact with Wighton’s management, however a two-club race has emerged between the Raiders and Wayne Bennett’s Dolphins.
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Milford played two seasons in the nation’s capital, agreeing to sign a two-year deal to join the Broncos after only 18 NRL games in 2013.
The current Dolphins playmaker then had months to agonise over his decision due to the NRL’s Round 13 rule and the Raiders were making desperate bids to retain the rising star.
The Round 13 rule was scrapped in 2015 and allowed players to have a cooling-off period after agreeing to join a new club.
The rule saw Kangaroos captain James Tedesco backflip on a three-year $1.9 million deal to join the Raiders and instead remain at the Tigers following a change of heart.
Milford maintained his decision at the time came purely down to his family, having grown up in Brisbane and Canberra lost a player that was seen to be the future of the club.
Stuart now faces a similar task, keeping a player who could be courted by a move to Queensland, although the Raiders have reportedly tabled an offer worth $4.4 million over four years.
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“We are doing everything we possibly can to keep Jack, Jarrod, myself, so many players, we have a very special relationship as a squad of players,” Stuart said in the post-match press conference on Saturday night.
“I have got a very special relationship with Jack from a coaching point of view, we are doing everything to keep Jack, we want to keep Jack.
“He is a Raider, but to answer your question honestly which gets me in a lot of trouble most of the time, I don’t want to lose Jack Wighton the way we lost Milford as a player, to the Broncos years and years ago.”
Wighton has been a one-club man across his illustrious NRL career, playing 224 games for the green machine.
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The 30-year-old made his debut in Round 2 of the 2012 season, being handed his first Raiders jersey by coach David Furner.
Since Stuart joined the club in 2014, the pair have forged a successful partnership, steering the Canberra club all the way to the 2019 grand final.
Stuart confirmed the Dolphins were the Raiders’ biggest threat in keeping their marquee star.
“Yeah, 100 per cent… we have put an offer there, we have done everything we can and that is up to Jack and his management now,”
“The way we lost Milford, I don’t want to lose him that way because it was disappointing.”
