Canberra coach Ricky Stuart says he does not want to lose star playmaker Jack Wighton to another club in the same way he lost Anthony Milford to the Broncos almost a decade ago.
Speaking after the Raiders’ brilliant 20-14 win over Brisbane at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday, Stuart confirmed the club had an offer on the table for the 30-year-old after Wighton informed the club he wanted to test the market for the 2024 season and beyond.
The $4.4 million over four years reflects the value the Raiders place on the 2020 Dally M Medal winner who has played all of his 224 NRL games at the club.
After developing Dolphins half Milford from the age of 13 and giving him his NRL debut, the Raiders lost him to the Broncos in 2015 after a protracted and messy period when he had sought a release from the final year of his deal, which he eventually honoured.
“We are doing everything we possibly can to keep Jack. I have a very special relationship with Jack from a coaching point of view,’ Stuart said.
“We want to keep Jack. He is a Raider. I don’t want to lose Jack Wighton the way we lost Milford to the Broncos years and years ago. “
Milford was a big part of the Raiders plans back then, as Wighton still is for the future.
Dolphins coach Wayne Bennett said recently the club would be prepared to pay more than $1 million for Wighton if he was the right fit and wanted to be part of the new franchise.
When asked if Wayne Bennett’s Dolphins were the biggest threat to poach Wighton, Stuart said “one hundred per cent”.
“We’ve put an offer there. It is up to Jack and his management now,” Stuart said.
“The way we lost Milford, we don’t want to lose him that way, because it was disappointing.”
Against the previously undefeated Broncos, the Raiders were without suspended Wighton and New Zealand prop Joe Tapine who was with his partner in Canberra as they await the birth of their first child.
Star fullback Xavier Savage has not played an NRL game this year due to a broken jaw, hooker Danny Levi is not expected back until round 12, also with a broken jaw, and the Raiders also missed half Jamal Fogarty in round four with injury.
They are key injuries in the spine that have contributed to their two wins from six games to start the season. Against the Broncos, the Raiders stood up to a man despite any absences.
“We have three players out of our spine for four or five games but we are not whingeing about it, we are just getting on with it,” Stuart said.
“These boys have done very well to turn up here under a lot of pressure and with the expectation that it was just a matter of Brisbane just running on the field, but I expect us to play like that every week.”
