The 13th Immortal, Mal Meninga, has claimed that departing Canberra star Jack Wighton has “no faith” that the Raiders can win an NRL premiership.
Wighton has been in Canberra for over 14 years, but the near-300-gamer will quit the capital for South Sydney in 2024 on a four-year deal.
His exit has left former Raiders player and coach Meninga ‘disappointed’, particularly given the club has spent so much time ‘nurturing’ the 30-year-old into a representative star.
Wighton has turned his back on a Raiders’ offer reportedly worth almost a million dollars more than the Rabbitohs’ four-year deal, which Meninga believes shows that the player’s decision is based on a belief that Canberra won’t challenge for a premiership in the coming years.
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“I would have loved to seen Jack finish his career with the Raiders obviously, they’ve certainly looked after him for many years, ever since he was a young fella,” Meninga told SENQ Mornings.
“He’s been in quite a lot of froth and bubble, and they’ve certainly looked after him over that period of time to a stage that he’s become a really good rugby league player, outstanding NRL player and he’s a rep player as well.
“Obviously they’ve nurtured him through that period where he’s at a stage in his life now where he’s at the back end of his career and he’s got to make some decisions on what he wants to do.”
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Meninga added that he believes the only reason Wighton is leaving Canberra is to win a premiership, which indicates he has “no faith” in his current club’s hopes.
“He’s made the decision based on, (that) he wants to win a premiership, that’s the first part,” Meninga added.
“For me Jack obviously hasn’t got any confidence in the Raiders (winning) a premiership in the near future, which disappoints me to be honest with you.
“In my opinion, he’s a leader of the club. He’d want to win a premiership with the club this year, wouldn’t he? Anyone that’s playing in the game at the moment wants to get on a run and win the premiership.
“From my perspective, he’s got no faith in the club to win a premiership in the next three to four years. Obviously he’s got plenty of faith in the Rabbitohs to do that.
“There’s no other reason, it’s not even money related is it? The Raiders offered him more money than the Rabbitohs offered him.
“My thoughts being, he’s got no faith in the Raiders, that’s his decision, he’s going to the Rabbitohs to win a premiership, that’s probably the only thing missing from his career.”
