Raiders five-eighth Jack Wighton’s decision to test his value on the open market has opened the door for a number of clubs to make a play for the Origin and Test star.
The 30-year-old veteran of 224 NRL games, 10 Origins for the Blues and seven Tests for the Kangaroos will test the open market for the first time in his 12 year career with the Dolphins reportedly in the mix to lure him away from Canberra.
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Wighton has until Round 10 to exercise a one-year option in his favour for 2024, but is reportedly weighing up a potential move.
It is unclear if his motives are related to money, position or the chance to compete for a premiership, but there are a number of clubs who could make a play for the versatile star.
Here are the potential landing spots for Wighton.
RAIDERS
The Raiders are still in the box seat to retain Wighton as they are the club who have earmarked around $1 million in their cap to re-sign him for the remainder of his career.
The carrot of being a one club player and finishing his career at the Raiders where he could potentially pass the 300 game mark would be appealing to Wighton.
Raiders boss Don Furner told The Daily Telegraph the club is happy to let Wighton test his value on the open market, but are confident they can table a competitive extension offer to keep him at the club for the rest of his playing days.
“Jack’s quite within his rights to test the market,” Furner told The Daily Telegraph.
“He’s been incredibly loyal to us for 14 seasons, he’s never once gone out and tested the market…he has our full support.
“He knows that we’re going to do everything we can to keep him and extend him…but being possibly his last contract, he has to do what is right for his young family and we fully understand and appreciate that.”
Furner also told the Herald of the Raiders’ intentions to make Wighton a one club man.
“We would love to see Jack finish as a one-club player and that’s certainly our aim,” Furner told The Sydney Morning Herald.
“We’re fully prepared for this situation and he certainly deserves the chance to look around. This is possibly his last contract, he’s got a young family to think of and we fully support that. That said, we’ll do everything to keep him too.”
It will take a lot to pry Wighton away from the Raiders, but it all depends on what he is looking for in his last professional contract in the NRL.
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DOLPHINS
The Dolphins are considered the biggest threat to the Raiders for Wighton’s services given what they can offer him for his last contract in rugby league.
The Dolphins are still yet to land a marquee signing after missing out on a host of names including Kalyn Ponga and Cameron Munster.
Fox League’s James Hooper revealed Wighton has already been sounded out by Wayne Bennett and the Dolphins, despite the fact they can’t officially negotiate with him until after Round 10.
The Dolphins have Anthony Milford and Isaiya Katoa as their No.6 options, while Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow and Herbie Farnworth are No.1 options in 2024.
Presumably Wighton wants to play five-eighth and that could see Katoa switch to halfback, which is his preferred position.
Wighton could also play centre, but it remains to be seen if he would make the switch to play a position that traditionally doesn’t earn as much money as the spine players.
However, if Wighton wants to win a premiership, the Dolphins are arguably in a better position under Wayne Bennett to do so than the Raiders who have been on the slide since their last decider in 2019.
But Bennett is also set to hand the reins to assistant Kristian Woolf in 2025, so the chance to play under Wayne would only be for a year or two at most for Wighton.
But financially the Dolphins are the club with the best chance of trumping any offer from the Raiders for Wighton’s services.
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TIGERS
Despite the Tigers’ recruitment drive last year, it is clear they still have plenty of work to do to create a winning team and Wighton would certainly help their chances.
The Tigers missed out on the services of Mitchell Moses and have moved five-eighth Adam Doeuihi, who is only signed for 2024, to fullback.
Brandon Wakeham is their current No.6 and Luke Brooks is in the final year of his $1 million plus deal and if he re-signs it will be on a much reduced deal.
That gives the Tigers some room to move in their salary cap to try and go after a big name like Wighton.
However, given the Tigers are in a worse position to win a title than the Raiders and the Dolphins, a switch to Concord would be purely about the money for Wighton.
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KNIGHTS
The Knights could be a potential smoky for Wighton given the uncertainty surrounding the future of skipper Kalyn Ponga.
Ponga was switched to the halves this season with the club bringing Lachlan Miller from the Sharks to play fullback.
Miller has been a revelation at the back for the Knights, but Ponga’s issues with concussion means he could return to fullback to protect him from the rigours of defending in the front line.
The Knights lost Anthony Milford last season and brought Tyson Gamble in as a replacement, who has also shown promising signs to start the season in Ponga’s absence.
However, the prospect of signing a versatile playmaker like Wighton could prove too hard for the Knights to ignore.
However, money could be a sticking point and the Knights are no better placed to win a title than the Raiders at this present time, so it remains to be seen if he would uproot his family unless the offer is too good to refuse.
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DRAGONS
The Dragons may have Ben Hunt and Talatau Amone earmarked as their halves for the next few years, but given the current state of the club they should be on the lookout for players of Wighton’s calibre.
In the wake of their 40-8 loss to the Sharks the Dragons are a real chance of proving wooden spoon predictions are not too far wide of the mark in 2023.
Tyrell Sloan is not lighting the world on fire at fullback and Amone and Jayden Sullivan have failed to grab the No.6 jersey and make it their own.
Meanwhile, Hunt could be an option at hooker at the back end of his career, which would open up a spot in the halves for Wighton.
The Dragons are missing players that show Wighton’s commitment and toughness on a weekly basis, so luring him from Canberra to help with their culture on and off the field would be a smart move to stop the rot.
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EELS
The Eels are well stocked in the halves with Mitchell Moses and Dylan Brown locked in long-term.
However, the peculiar developments surrounding skipper Clint Gutherson raised a few eyebrows this week.
The Eels are reportedly on the lookout for players with X-factor to fill either the fullback or bench utility roles, with Titans livewire Jayden Campbell put forward as a potential target.
Whether Wighton fits the mould and could come in as a fullback and push Gutherson to centre or even play centre himself remains to be seen.
Financially the Eels would have less money than some other clubs to entice Wighton away from Canberra, but they look closer to winning a title than some other potential suitors including the green machine.
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RABBITOHS
Financially the Rabbitohs don’t make much sense as a landing spot given they have minimal room to move in their salary cap.
However, if it is the chance to win a title before he retires that Wighton is looking for, Souths is arguably his best option.
Added to that, Wighton has a close relationship with Blues and Kangaroos teammate Latrell Mitchell form their time in representative teams together.
Souths are well stocked at five-eighth and fullback with Mitchell and Cody Walker, but the latter’s deal expires in 2025 and he could retire at that stage which would free up some salary cap space.
Meanwhile, Wighton could play in the centres for the next couple of seasons until Walker hangs up the boots and then shift back into the No.6 jersey.
