Raiders coach Ricky Stuart has spoken on Jack Wighton’s future move to the Rabbitohs, saying he “understands the decision” but was initially “really pissed off”.
Wighton ended weeks of speculation on Tuesday, when it was announced
he would join Souths on a four-year deal from the 2024 season
, turning down much richer offers from both the Raiders and the Dolphins.
Stuart said he was “really pissed off” that Wighton decided to move on stating that if he wasn’t, he wouldn’t “care about the club or Jack and I care about both of those.”
‘I felt for Jack’: Stuart ‘pissed off’ by Wighton move, says NRL contracting system is ‘flawed’
'Reasonability' says Jack's contract should be centre of attention
It's highly unlikely the NRL's investigation into South Sydney's Jack Wighton contract is going to come to anything. And it's not going to change anything.
There's no suggestion the Rabbitohs have done anything wrong. Given how high profile Wighton's impending move there has been they'd have been mad to have even considered it.
But the contract should come under scrutiny from the NRL salary cap auditors under their own "reasonability" test, which looks at the value of similar players based on things like their position and representative experience.
The meeting to find Wighton's Raiders replacement
It's the Canberra Raiders meeting that will begin the process of finding Jack Wighton's replacement.
Raiders coach Ricky Stuart and his coaching and recruitment staff will get together next week to come up with their plan of attack to look for their next No.6.
The Raiders will also look to make moves to lockdown young half Brad Schneider, who's off contract at the end of the year.
