Canberra will sweat on the fitness of Dally M Medallist Jack Wighton for Thursday night’s crunch NRL clash with Parramatta as he battles a rib injury.

Wighton was hurt in the first half of the Raiders’ 34-18 win over Cronulla, when he copped an accidental boot from Sharks winger Sione Katoa as he scored a try.

The Raiders No.6 was strapped on field and then had a needle at halftime, before leaving the field on the hour-mark with the pain too much.

There are also injury concerns for livewire fullback Xavier Savage, who was one of the Raiders’ best in the win while playing through shoulder pain.

The 19-year-old has previously battled an AC joint injury earlier in his career.

With Canberra ninth and a crucial run home ahead, coach Ricky Stuart indicated he would take a cautious approach.

“We’ve got a few busted up actually. We’ll just wait and see,” Stuart said. 

“We have a very short turnaround against a good football team this week. 

“You might see a few new faces because I’m not going to risk anybody at the moment. 

“It’s too much of a balance at this part of the season so I’ll wait and see how Jack pulls up and a couple of the other guys.”

After a woeful run where Canberra won just two of 11 games, Saturday’s win marked their first back-to-back victories since the opening two rounds.

But such is the nature of the 2021 season, they are now only out of the top eight on for-and-against and sitting in ninth.

An upset win over Parramatta would at least momentarily move them back into a finals-paying position for the first time since April.

They also have players returning to form at the right time, with edge back-rowers Corey Harawira-Naera and Hudson Young clearly recapturing their best.

Harawira-Naera finished with eight tackle busts and six offloads on Sunday night, as he set up one try and helped cause an error for another.

Dropped him at the start of the season for a drink-driving incident, leaving him playing catch up once coming back into the team in round seven.

AAP