The Daily Telegraph’s David Riccio has revealed the three clubs who are seriously interested in Canberra Raiders playmaker Jack Wighton and suggested that the teams must be willing to pay seven figures to secure the 30-year-old.
The Dally M and Clive Churchill medallist made a shocking announcement on Tuesday when he told the Raiders he would not trigger the contract option in his favour and instead test the open market.
Riccio said every club would be looking at their roster to try and accommodate Wighton but the three clubs leading the pack are the Dolphins, Wests Tigers and Parramatta Eels.
“Every other club is now starting to assess what they can do in their salary cap to potentially have a look at this,” Riccio said on SEN 1170 Breakfast.
“There are three clubs that have popped up that have confirmed their interest.
“They are the Dolphins, the Tigers and the Eels.
“Whether Jack is weighing up the opportunity to go and win a premiership, I would argue that those three clubs aren’t in that (premiership) bracket at this time.
“It’s going to take at least $1.1 million to $1.2 million to pull him out of Canberra and that’s big money that’s not readily sitting on the shelf.
“These types of players of that quality do not come up on the open market.
“If you’re close to winning a comp and think you can win a comp if you add Jack Wighton, you’d give it a serious consideration.”
SEN’s Andrew Voss and James Magnussen believe that Wighton is testing the open market to find that elusive premiership that the Raiders are unlikely to achieve.
SEN’s Michelle Bishop believes the Dolphins is the most likely destination for Wighton given his ambitions after rugby league.
“He has always told me he wants to live in Queensland eventually,” Bishop revealed on SEN 1170 Breakfast.
“His (partner's) mum lives up on the Gold Coast and he loves it (up there).
“He loves fishing and spends most of his time on the water.”
Wighton will be unavailable for the Raiders’ next two fixtures after receiving a two-match suspension in Round 4.
