NRL ban Jack Wighton for 10 matches, impose $30,000 fine

[Schifty]

Someone tell Don to pull his head in. Picking the wrong fight

Yep, not going to win this one. Unless there’s some ulterior motive I’m very disappointed the club is making these kinds of noises.

I think the fan is to keep pouring fuel on the fire until even the NRL don't want to deal with it and just walk away.

[Green eyed Mick]

Jesus rothfield dribbles some ****, who cares if wighton is getting paid whilst suspended....hes on a contract...numpty

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The guy has no idea, he’s saying wighton will take home 250k while suspended, if he earns 250k every 10 weeks then that makes him the highest paid player in the game. Muppet

Maybe he is using a $ per match calculation.

[Bay53]

I think Rothfield is exactly right in that article.

I would much prefer massive fines for bad off field behaviour.

BTW Rothfield’s article estimates Wighton is on $750k per year.

[myanonymoususername]

Jesus rothfield dribbles some ****, who cares if wighton is getting paid whilst suspended....hes on a contract...numpty

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And while he's suspended he's not performing his side of the contract, in which case I think its perfectly reasonable to expect he doesn't get paid. I actually thought the NRL standard player contract allows clubs to reduce payments to suspended players, something like 1/30 of the annual salary for each match suspended.

[greeneyed]

Phil Rothfield says Canberra Raiders fullback Jack Wighton is receiving a $250k ‘reward’ for an assault
By Phil Rothfield

JACK Wighton will earn around $250,000 from the Canberra Raiders while he is serving a 10-week suspension in the run home to the finals. Not a bad reward for assaulting three men on the streets of our national capital. The Canberra Raiders fullback is on around $750,000 a year.

Read more: https://www.news.com.au/sport/nrl/monda ... bdfd8b4674

[-TW-]

I think Rothfield is exactly right in that article.

I would much prefer massive fines for bad off field behaviour.

BTW Rothfield’s article estimates Wighton is on $750k per year.

Yeah but the issue is he's assuming players get paid for the 30 weeks and that's it..

Their pa is November to October

[Billy Walker]

I think Don needs to forget the Matt Lodge comparison and think about the Kieran Loveridge comparison. Kieran Loveridge is the man that Andrew Fifita supported by writing FKL on his wrist strapping. The entire NRL was outraged that Fifita would show support for a man who went on a drunken rampage in Kings Cross and punched and tragically killed an innocent young man named Thomas Kelly. The incident was a major driver in Sydney's lock out rules. The actions of Kieran Loveridge and the reported actions of Jack Wighton are very similar with only the outcome that differs. The support of Don Furner, Ricky Stuart, Alan Hawke and the Raiders board is far greater than anything Fifita was roundly condemned for.

[Northern Raider]

I think Rothfield is exactly right in that article.

I would much prefer massive fines for bad off field behaviour.

BTW Rothfield’s article estimates Wighton is on $750k per year.

Yeah but the issue is he's assuming players get paid for the 30 weeks and that's it..

Their pa is November to October

This aspect would be lost on Buzz.....and his readership.

[Billy Walker]

Andrew Fifita was fined $20k and denied the opportunity to be selected for the Kangaroo's for showing support for a man who went on a drunken rampage like Jack Wighton. Will the NRL fine Stuart, Furner and Hawke??

[hobbsy]

I think Don needs to forget the Matt Lodge comparison and think about the Kieran Loveridge comparison. Kieran Loveridge is the man that Andrew Fifita supported by writing FKL on his wrist strapping. The entire NRL was outraged that Fifita would show support for a man who went on a drunken rampage in Kings Cross and punched and tragically killed an innocent young man named Thomas Kelly. The incident was a major driver in Sydney's lock out rules. The actions of Kieran Loveridge and the reported actions of Jack Wighton are very similar with only the outcome that differs. The support of Don Furner, Ricky Stuart, Alan Hawke and the Raiders board is far greater than anything Fifita was roundly condemned for.

100% this. The fact people are blowing this off as "something that happens every week" is pretty disturbing. There are a lot of terrible crimes that happen every week, that in no way means we should be accepting of them.

[Bay53]

I think Rothfield is exactly right in that article.

I would much prefer massive fines for bad off field behaviour.

BTW Rothfield’s article estimates Wighton is on $750k per year.

Yeah but the issue is he's assuming players get paid for the 30 weeks and that's it..

Their pa is November to October

I think you are focussing on the number rather than the issue. NRL players in general get paid like the rest of us, with a periodic salary of the same amount each time. I am pretty sure the Raiders used to pay every four weeks. Not sure if that is still the case.

But the main point that Rothfield is making is Wighton is still making a significant net profit for this period of time and in his opinion they would be far better off fining players massive amounts.

I totally agree with him.

[Bay53]

Andrew Fifita was fined $20k and denied the opportunity to be selected for the Kangaroo's for showing support for a man who went on a drunken rampage like Jack Wighton. Will the NRL fine Stuart, Furner and Hawke??

Rubbish. No one has suggested Wighton didn’t do the wrong thing. They suggested that they believed that they had determined the appropriate punishment FROM HIS EMPLOYER. This of course has nothing to do with the punishment the courts will hand out.

[Billy Walker]

Andrew Fifita was fined $20k and denied the opportunity to be selected for the Kangaroo's for showing support for a man who went on a drunken rampage like Jack Wighton. Will the NRL fine Stuart, Furner and Hawke??

Rubbish. No one has suggested Wighton didn’t do the wrong thing. They suggested that they believed that they had determined the appropriate punishment FROM HIS EMPLOYER. This of course has nothing to do with the punishment the courts will hand out.

Fifita didn't deny that Loveridge did the wrong thing either - he just showed him support. The point is there is a massive double standard here around two people who pleaded guilty to the same horrendous crime. I'd like to see Don, Ricky or Hawke tell Thomas Kelly's parents that the NRL are being too harsh on Jack Wighton. I'd love to hear Danny Green's view on the matter. Don Furner and the Raiders board are totally out of step with the rest of society on this and have damaged the brand badly.

[gangrenous]

Andrew Fifita was fined $20k and denied the opportunity to be selected for the Kangaroo's for showing support for a man who went on a drunken rampage like Jack Wighton. Will the NRL fine Stuart, Furner and Hawke??

Rubbish. No one has suggested Wighton didn’t do the wrong thing. They suggested that they believed that they had determined the appropriate punishment FROM HIS EMPLOYER. This of course has nothing to do with the punishment the courts will hand out.

I don’t know, there seemed to be a few people like “what if Wighton’s fairy godmother told him the world was headed for nuclear war, and the only way to prevent it was for him to punch 5 guys and send us along another path?”

We just don’t know all the facts man.

[kiwi raider]

Jesus rothfield dribbles some ****, who cares if wighton is getting paid whilst suspended....hes on a contract...numpty

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The guy has no idea, he’s saying wighton will take home 250k while suspended, if he earns 250k every 10 weeks then that makes him the highest paid player in the game. Muppet

Maybe he is using a $ per match calculation.

Yea I figured that but It’s sensationalism and simply untrue to say wighton will receive 250k while he’s suspended, in reality it’s close to half that(if he’s on $750k) Rothfields point is fair and a good one but he shouldn’t need to sensationalise things to make his point

[Timbo]

Jesus rothfield dribbles some ****, who cares if wighton is getting paid whilst suspended....hes on a contract...numpty

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The guy has no idea, he’s saying wighton will take home 250k while suspended, if he earns 250k every 10 weeks then that makes him the highest paid player in the game. Muppet

Maybe he is using a $ per match calculation.

Yea I figured that but It’s sensationalism and simply untrue to say wighton will receive 250k while he’s suspended, in reality it’s close to half that(if he’s on $750k) Rothfields point is fair and a good one but he shouldn’t need to sensationalise things to make his point

I wish I could get suspended from my job and make $125k.

[Roger Kenworthy]

You see how we're in the position of constantly shedding players and not replacing them when we pay 750k to a fullback who doesn't know how to position himself to receive kicks.

[Botman]

Roughly 750k of cap space to give to a half, Cotric, Rapana, Oldfield at the back or Wighton, Cotric, Rapana and Sam Williams/Aiden Sezer

Let me know which you think yields the best chances to fielding a winning football team?

[Azza]

Trying to understand your post ís '"asinine", as you so often like to say former captain dingleberry.

[Relax-init]

He has copped a fair suspension, if not too lenient. 10 weeks, 30K. The club and JW should take it and be quiet. Don is digging them a bigger hole and is making the club more of a laughing stock. He pleaded guilty to 5 charges, the other 7 were dropped. He pleaded guilty.... take the hit. (no pun intended)

I do hope they appeal and lose, and then the NRL can increase the suspension. I would also fine Don, Sticky and Alan for their comments. It's bringing disrepute to the game.

Take the suspension and move on Raiders... You are disappointing your fans and losing us. You should feel lucky the NRL didn't deregister him as they have done for lesser crimes.

[Botman]

Trying to understand your post ís '"asinine", as you so often like to say former captain dingleberry.

It's a pretty straight forward hypthetical
Your comprehension issues are not my concern.

Regards,
Former Captain Dingleberry

[edwahu]

I think Jack is a 700k player based on this year, but I would agree purely looking at the squad we would be better off letting him go.

However sacking a player to free up cap space under the guise of it been disciplinary action is not a good move and could cause more problems than it solves.

[Lucy]

Trying to understand your post ís '"asinine", as you so often like to say former captain dingleberry.

He is saying..

Roughly 750k of cap space to give to-

a new half, Cotric, Rapana, Oldfield at the back

or

Wighton, Cotric, Rapana and Sam Williams/Aiden Sezer

Ditching Jack and getting a decent half, or keeping Jack and going into next season with the very same amount of gash we have at present.

It does not involve rockets.

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[Woodgers]

Sorry for the repetition but I reckon our best bet going forward based on all the info is putting Jack back to 6 next season. Even though this has been far and away his most consistent season at fullback I think the time is right and it solves one of our biggest deficiencies and that is the right edge defence. Corey Norman won't do that, and by all reports Norman isn't that keen on not being the main chief and Hodgson is already that player in our side. There isn't much else out there worth pursuing.

People will always point out that he wasn't that great there previously, but he's a different player now. He has stood behind the line and will be a much better player in attack and defence because of it. His passing game is infinitely better and he's hard to handle one on one when he runs.

I'm not sure whether you look at Cotric or Abbey to fill the fullback role but we now have the rest of the season to work that out. Cotric's last ditch defence and positioning for those tackles the other night was impressive so he's a strong candidate. He'd need to spend more time working on his passing and the sweep plays but every report we've heard on the kid is he is eager to learn and naturally picks things up so a full offseason training there and learning off Jack would do him wonders.

When you think about the amount of close games we've lost where we've got virtually nothing out of the 6 in attack and what they've cost us in defence, I think we'd be instantly better off with this personnel change. We'd immediately have the best defensive half in the comp for a start.

FTR I don't think Sticky is moving Wighton no matter how much sense it makes.

[VictorTheViking]

Our backline could look very different next yewr especially if the rumours of leilua being shopped are true

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[Timbo]

Cotric could get 3 Dally M points at FB every game this season - Rick will put him back on the wing as soon as the golden child returns from suspension.

I have no doubts, if Cotric said he wants to play FB or he'll walk, Rick would let him go to allow Jack to remain at fullback.

[Botman]

Sorry for the repetition but I reckon our best bet going forward based on all the info is putting Jack back to 6 next season. Even though this has been far and away his most consistent season at fullback I think the time is right and it solves one of our biggest deficiencies and that is the right edge defence. Corey Norman won't do that, and by all reports Norman isn't that keen on not being the main chief and Hodgson is already that player in our side. There isn't much else out there worth pursuing.

People will always point out that he wasn't that great there previously, but he's a different player now. He has stood behind the line and will be a much better player in attack and defence because of it. His passing game is infinitely better and he's hard to handle one on one when he runs.

I'm not sure whether you look at Cotric or Abbey to fill the fullback role but we now have the rest of the season to work that out. Cotric's last ditch defence and positioning for those tackles the other night was impressive so he's a strong candidate. He'd need to spend more time working on his passing and the sweep plays but every report we've heard on the kid is he is eager to learn and naturally picks things up so a full offseason training there and learning off Jack would do him wonders.

When you think about the amount of close games we've lost where we've got virtually nothing out of the 6 in attack and what they've cost us in defence, I think we'd be instantly better off with this personnel change. We'd immediately have the best defensive half in the comp for a start.

FTR I don't think Sticky is moving Wighton no matter how much sense it makes.

We're not sacking Wighton, but given that i agree if we cant afford a halves upgrade, getting Wighton back into the 6 again might be our best option.
Id argue a better option would be to sack him and buy a real six, but that's not happening so no point harping on about it

[Beejay]

From what I've heard moving Jack to 6 is an option being considered by the club and coach. Obviously depends on who we do or don't pick up in the player market, but it's a real possibility.

[edwahu]

The funny thing about all this loyalty towards Jack is he almost certainly shopped himself to the Knights at the start of the year.

[Beejay]

All these recent headlines show is how incompetent our CEO is. Fancy releasing a strongly worded statement to the media to throw fuel on the story that hurts the club. They had no intention of fighting the suspension, so literally the only reason for the public statement was to publicly whinge. It just puts the story back out there and invites an opposing retort, which is easy to come up with since Jack plead guilty to assault...
A smart thing to do would be to work with a local Journo to do a story on how hard it is for our Canberra players to be out in public due to **** taunting them. Now that might not have even been the case in this scenario, and you don't have to explicitly say that it was, just insinuate it. Leave it out there for the casual reader to assume that Jack was reacting/defending himself.

Don is the biggest cancer in this club IMO, even more than Ricky Stuart.

[Roger Kenworthy]

From what I've heard moving Jack to 6 is an option being considered by the club and coach. Obviously depends on who we do or don't pick up in the player market, but it's a real possibility.

I'd be all for that so long as he is never allowed to kick the ball. He had an absolute lead foot in 2015.

I'd be much more confident if he was along side a better quality half than Sezer...

[Timbo]

If Sezer and Hodgson do 99% of the kicking, then ok, maybe.

I just would really prefer it if Wighton was plying his trade for someone else next year. I don't think he's worth the money we're paying him, I think he's a dumb footballer and all of this points towards him being a bit of a **** bloke too.

[sprintman]

Suggest folk read the Buzz article in full, especially the paragraphs about the NRL needing the Raiders in the finals. He makes a lot of sense u

[edwahu]

Suggest folk read the Buzz article in full, especially the paragraphs about the NRL needing the Raiders in the finals. He makes a lot of sense u

He gives us a fair wrap. I don't really agree with his argument though, the reason for suspending the players is that it punishes the clubs, who have the responsibility to keep the players in line and maintain a decent culture. If you take that away I guarantee some poorly behaved players will just get bailed out financially by the clubs benefactors every time they get in trouble.

[Azza]

Trying to understand your post ís '"asinine", as you so often like to say former captain dingleberry.

It's a pretty straight forward hypthetical
Your comprehension issues are not my concern.

Regards,
Former Captain Dingleberry

It's "hypothetical" my dear Captain. You'll always be my Captain. Don't be so asinine.

Damnit Smithers this isn't rocket surgery, it's brain science.