Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.
Few will be more familiar with that famous proverb than Canberra coach Ricky Stuart, who has no interest in history repeating by allowing his club to let Jack Wighton sign elsewhere.
The Raiders have thrown the kitchen sink at Wighton, tabling a four-year deal worth $4.4 million after the star No. 6 announced he was headed for the open market.
Stuart declared he doesn’t want to lose Wighton “in the same way” the club lost Anthony Milford to Wayne Bennett’s Broncos back in 2014.
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‘Jack knows that I want him here’ | 02:21
Brisbane signed Milford on a significantly smaller deal to what Canberra offered and the NRL took the unusual step of approving the contract on the basis the playmaker was moving home for family reasons.
Stuart cryptically referenced Milford when asked what the club was doing to retain Wighton.
“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,” Stuart said.
“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.”
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‘I know people have cheated the cap!’ | 01:46
Fast forward almost a decade and it’s once again Bennett chasing the prized signature of one of Stuart’s best players.
Dolphins coach Bennett has stated he’d be willing to pay more than $1 million for Blues and Kangaroos star Wighton.
But Canberra are wary of being played again and chief executive Don Furner took an extra step this week to keep clubs chasing Wighton accountable.
“I tell you what was a further shot at Wayne Bennett, the club this week, through chief executive Don Furner, sent the NRL salary cap auditor a copy of the offer they have officially put to Jack,” Paul Crawley said on NRL 360.
“That $1.1 million four-year deal, they’ve sent it to the salary cap auditor and said basically this is what our official offer is so if another club, whoever that may be comes to the NRL in a few weeks or months time and says ‘Jack signed with us for $800k’, well there has to be some questioned asked.”
Griffin days away from getting axed? | 03:59
The NRL360 co-host, writing for The Daily Telegraph, said the move by the Raiders put rivals on notice.
“The lodgement formalises at head office Canberra’s offer of $1.1 million a year for the next four years while declaring that anyone who wants to try to lure Wighton away had better come up with a knock ’em dead offer,” he wrote.
“No longer can the NRL act naive when clubs claim to be unfairly outbid for a player, as Raiders coach Ricky Stuart seemed to say after Saturday night’s game in Brisbane.
“The Raiders pre-emptive strike against rival clubs is part of the silent dance that has to be played out every now and then because contract negotiations always contain an element of smoke and mirrors, and other than those in the room few can actually claim to know the truth.”
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