Rabbitohs coach Jason Demetriou has admitted he’d “love to have” Jack Wighton at the club as reports surfaced today that Souths had loomed as a shock threat to sign the Raiders star.
Since Wighton announced he would test the open market, the Raiders and the Dolphins had appeared to be the only two clubs in contention for the 30-year-old’s signature.
But according to the Sydney Morning Herald, it seems that the Rabbitohs will join the race, with Demetriou not exactly denying it in his press conference on Tuesday.
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“I love Jack and I know he’s got a lot of good friends in the club through rep footy,” Demetriou said.
“We’d love to have him here if there was an opportunity to get him here, but we’re pretty full on the salary cap as well.
“He’s a fantastic footballer, there’ll be a host of clubs interested. We’ll just see how it plays out.”
Demetriou admitted such a signing may be unlikely due to salary cap restraints.
“We’ll get all the big earners and see what they’re willing to do,” Demetriou joked.
“If Cookie’s (Damien Cook) willing to take a pay cut there’s probably something we can sit down and have a chat about.”
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On Monday, Cook spoke on the potential of a Wighton move to the Rabbitohs after praising his former Origin teammate’s decision to retire from all representative footy.
“Someone like Jack Wighton, you’d find a position anywhere on the field for him. He’s a competitor who just wants to win.
“You never know, Latrell took all the money here and may not have left some for his good mate (Wighton).”
Wighton said on Tuesday that he’d like to “make the decision in the next couple of weeks,” on what team he’ll join from 2024.
“I’m breaking no rules … I had an option to check the market at my age and that’s what I’ve done,” he told The Daily Telegraph.
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