The Canberra Raiders will have to try and shore up their NRL finals hopes without star man Jack Wighton, with the five-eighth set to miss the vital clash with Canterbury.
Wighton tweaked his hamstring at training on Friday and will not be risked against the Bulldogs on Sunday, with reserve half Matt Frawley to fill in at No.6.
The injury leaves Wighton – who moves to South Sydney from next season – racing the clock to be fit for what could be his final game in Canberra for the Raiders next Saturday night against Brisbane.
Wighton’s absence adds to the Raiders’ troubles as they try to put a poor month of form behind them.
Again admitting the Raiders haven’t played good football since their round-20 bye, coach Ricky Stuart insisted effort isn’t the issue – despite his team being thoroughly dismantled in a 48-2 thumping by Melbourne last weekend.
Stuart refused to offer an explanation for the poor showing in a vital game in his post-match press conference and was in no mood to address it looking ahead to the Bulldogs clash, simply telling media Canberra’s execution hadn’t been up to scratch.
“Everyone’s got their own explanation, I’ve got an opinion … it’s certainly not due to effort,” he said.
“It’s certainly not due to the lack of desire or wanting to win. Sometimes it can be too much, sometimes you try too hard.
“We’ve had to relax a little bit and think about the shorter term of the game and go set for set instead of worrying about the back end of the results.
“Execution, both defence and attack, has let us down. We’re playing for certain parts of the game and not for the full 80.
“Our last three or four games we haven’t been in good form and we’ve got to turn around quickly.”
The Raiders are favourites to beat a Bulldogs team for whom the wheels have come off after four straight defeats, and can’t afford a slip-up with four sides within a game of them in the race for finals.
A loss against Canterbury would leave the sixth-placed Raiders extremely vulnerable to missing the top eight, with games to come against in-form Brisbane and Cronulla.
Canberra regain veteran Jarrod Croker in the centres days after he announced his retirement for the end of the season, and are hoping he can steady their side much like he did when deployed for their 20-14 win at the Broncos in round six.
By Alex Mitchell in Canberra
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