He might be injured at the moment, but that has not stopped Raiders boom centre Jack Wighton from signing a contract extension with the Canberra Raiders, keeping him at the club until the end of the 2014 season.
Wighton was already contracted for the 2013 NRL season, but the Raiders sought to move quickly, in order to tie up the young gun for as long as possible.
The young Raiders star was in stellar form, before a freak trampolining accident saw him injure his foot, effectively ruling him out for the year – but in a sign that he is on the road to recovery, he returned to full squad training last night, and is hopeful of playing more rugby league in 2013.
“I’m very happy to have signed this extension and I love playing footy in Canberra,†Wighton said.
“It’s my home now and being from a country town like Orange, it’s a great place to live and most importantly play footy.â€
In what is sure to prove a tough ask to crack into the Raiders back-line in 2013, Wighton says that he is looking forward to both the opportunity, and the challenge.
“It’s been hard sitting on the sideline after getting a taste of the NRL early in the year, but it’s motivated me to work hard on my rehab and be right to go next year,†he said.
“It’s going to be hard work to secure a spot in the backline next year, as guys like Edrick Lee and Sandor Earl have been great, but that just makes you want to work harder.â€
Don Furner, the Raiders CEO, said that re-signing Wighton was priority for the club, and they are pleased to have secured his services for 2 more years.
“We’ve been working on the deal for a while, and we would have loved to have extended him for more than a year, but at the same time, it’s great news for the club to have him for another two at this stage of his career,†Furner said.
“There was plenty of interest from other clubs so he was a priority signing for us.
“He’s happy here and we’ll back ourselves to keep him here, and if we extend him year by year, that’s fine by us. He’s definitely a first grader and we’re happy to have him.â€