What do you think opposition sides fear the most when they square off against Jack Wighton?
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Is it his ability to create attacking chances with his boot, or perhaps his knack to put ball-runners through a hole ... or maybe it's something else.
For me, when I think about what Wighton does best, I think about his ability to create an impact with the ball in-hand.
One of the reasons Ricky Stuart moved him from fullback into the five-eighth position is because Wighton is guaranteed to get the ball wearing the No.6, and plenty of it.
They also lacked a bit of star-power in the halves, and liked what they saw in up-and-comer Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad.
But, it's no good for a dominant ball-runner like Wighton to play five-eighth if he doesn't have a halfback to accommodate him.
In 2021, a season where the Raiders ultimately failed to perform, Jack Wighton had four line-breaks ... FOUR. One of the best, raw runners in the competition broke the line just four times ... unbelievable.
This was less than teammates Emre Guler and Josh Papalii, both of whom play front row.
Does this mean Wighton was less than his best? Yes.
But, does it also mean he was playing in the wrong position, or potentially trying to do more than what he needed to do? Probably.
It's never easy when you churn through three halfbacks throughout the course of a regular season, especially when the acting five-eighth (Wighton) isn't a dominant ball-player or organiser.
The turmoil in the seven spot undoubtedly impacted Wighton's game, and the Raiders need to do all they can this off-season to make sure he isn't interrupted like that again.
The rumour mill indicates Canberra is chasing Luke Brooks or Ash Taylor, but I don't want Wighton's form next year to hinge so heavily on who's wearing the seven.
How do you solve that? Get him out of the halves.
Canberra is unlikely to come across a playmaker like George Williams again, meaning it's unlikely Wighton will ever have the same luxury he was afforded during his Dally M campaign in 2020.
Brad Fittler had no issue putting the Bloomfield boy in the centres, and I'm thinking Stuart should move him as well, but not to an edge ... to the middle.
Have you ever thought about the kind of damage Wighton could do at lock?
An effective 13 needs to be fit, needs to be a leader, and needs to be adaptable defensively.
Every side uses their lock differently, but with the leg speed Wighton possesses, and his ability to play 80 minutes in top gear, he'd be able to wreak havoc in and around the ruck.
And this doesn't mean he'd never ball play at Canberra again. Not at all.
Just look at Jake Trbojevic ... he's constantly inserting himself as a ball-player, whether it's hitting the second man in a back-line shift, or tipping it on to a fast-running Martin Taupua or Taniela Paseka ... Wighton has the skill to do both of these things.
Canberra isn't exactly light-on in the back row, but that's nothing a pre-season positional battle won't fix.
As for the halves, Canberra is almost certainly going to sign a new halfback, and Sam Williams or Matt Frawley are serviceable enough to sit alongside them.
While they won't provide the spark that Wighton will, at least they're not playing out of position.
And, if you were unsure about Canberra's struggles this season, here's NRL immortal Andrew Johns weighing in on their situation.
"That was like watching and under-14s team bumble and fumble their way around," Johns said.
Something's got to change. And maybe shifting Jack to 13 is the key to unlocking that shift for the Green Machine.
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