ALTHOUGH he conceded he can’t remember exactly when he last played at Bathurst’s Carrington Park, Canberra Raiders fullback Jack Wighton certainly remembers the dismal record he has at the ground.

That’s partly why he’s so desperate to help his Raiders side to a win over the Penrith Panthers at the ground on Saturday, to finally buck the trend.

Wighton will take up his now customary role in the Raiders’ No.1 jersey in Saturday’s round nine NRL clash against the Panthers at Carrington Park, a ground where he explained his Orange Bloomfield and CYMS junior sides suffered defeat, after defeat, after defeat.

“I was saying to the boys [on Wednesday morning] I played in probably six or seven grand finals down there at Carrington, against Panthers, and I don’t think we won any of them,” Wighton laughed.

The clash in Bathurst comes a tick over two months after the Raiders turned out at Wade Park, although Wighton was forced to the sidelines after suffering a concussion the week before, missing out on playing in front of the 7,500-strong home crowd.

“I was disappointed (not to play in Orange), but I just love playing out in the country no matter where it is,” he enthused.

“Obviously it’s nice to be so close to home, my family and friends can get out and have a look at the game. Hopefully we can have a bit of fun and grab a win.”

Wighton and his Raiders hit their straps last week, trouncing the Wests Tigers 60-6 at Canberra’s GIO Stadium. Wighton had a hand in three of the Raiders’ 11 tries and ran for 186 metres from the back.

“We’re not taking too much out of that one, we’ve had wins like that before and then come out the week after and been beaten by 60,” Wighton said.

“That’s one thing we’ve spoken about this week is being able to back up a win like that. Penrith will be a tough ask, they’ve got a big forward pack and they’re a really good offloading side with good second phase play, so we’ll need to watch out for that.”

The Raiders and Panthers were both touted as top four chances prior to the season, but sit seventh and 12th respectively eight games in.

The Raiders roll into Orange on Thursday - they’ll head to Wade Park to watch the NSW Police Rugby League City-Country game - before staying the night in the colour city and heading to Bathurst on Friday.

Saturday’s Raiders-Panthers fixture kicks off at 3pm.