The Raiders were one of the strongest finishing teams last year thanks to the scintillating form of star prop Joe Tapine and the return of halfback Jamal Fogarty.
Tapine has made a pact this year with several teammates, including fellow front-rower Josh Papali’i, to stay off the drink as he believes sobriety was behind his breakout 2022 season.
The Kiwi international has no intention of resting on his laurels, determined to take his consistency to “another level” and end Canberra’s 29-year title drought.
NRL 2023: Canberra Raiders season preview, Ricky Stuart, Jack Wighton, Jarrod Croker, where will the finish, best 17, Xavier Savage, Jamal Fogarty, squad
'Every story has two sides': NRL stars to defend public fight charges
NRL players Jack Wighton and Latrell Mitchell will defend charges laid over an alleged fight outside a Canberra nightclub, with a lawyer for one of the State of Origin stars saying "every story has two sides".
But the charges will hang over their heads throughout the forthcoming football season, with their hearing still more than eight months away.
The NSW Blues teammates travelled to and from the ACT Magistrates Court together on Wednesday, when they both pleaded not guilty to charges of fighting in a public place.
Jack Wighton, Latrell Mitchell plead not guilty to fight charges
Jack Wighton and Latrell Mitchell have pleaded not guilty to charges stemming from an alleged fight outside a Canberra nightclub.
The NRL star duo fronted the ACT Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday, but won’t fight their charges until after the season with a three-day hearing slated for October 30.
Canberra five-eighth Wighton, 30, is facing charges of fighting in a public place and failing to comply with an exclusion direction, while South Sydney fullback Mitchell, 25, is charged with resisting a territory public official, fighting in a public place and failing to comply with an exclusion...
