Jack Wighton

[afgtnk]

He's 28 years old now, so closer to the end of his career than the start. Still, he maintains the agility and speed of an outside back. Had it not been for Croker, I think he'd have gone down second to Meninga for us as a centre and would've played 15+ Origins and Tests by now.

At this point I only see him as a running 5/8th from here on in. A lot of his skills and traits would be wasted trying to convert himself into a edge or middle forward, IMO.

Didn't realise Croker had both centre positions locked down this whole time.

Jack's definitely a left centre to me. There's a reason why he mainly attacks down the left, both as a fullback and 5/8.

[zim]

In 2018, before we recruited CNK and moved Wighton to 5/8 I expressed my opinion that Jack would make a great lock. I think that absolutely stands, he'd be elite in that role IMO.

As far as his kicking game goes, we made the GF in 2019 when Jack was on fire with his kick and chase game. He has all the ability in the world, but is just prone to errors.

Anyway, in a magical land where we had a quality halfback on the books, Wighton to 13 and G Williams to 6 would be unreal. CNK can then just focus on being an elite defense first fullback.

Maybe we can scrape into the finals at the end of the season with
1. CNK
6. Williams
7. Hodgson
13. Wighton
9. Starling

(Not happening, I know.)

I misread this at first as ...in a magical land where we had a quality halfback in brooks.... Nearly spat my coffee out.

[Seiffert82]

In 2018, before we recruited CNK and moved Wighton to 5/8 I expressed my opinion that Jack would make a great lock. I think that absolutely stands, he'd be elite in that role IMO.

As far as his kicking game goes, we made the GF in 2019 when Jack was on fire with his kick and chase game. He has all the ability in the world, but is just prone to errors.

Anyway, in a magical land where we had a quality halfback on the books, Wighton to 13 and G Williams to 6 would be unreal. CNK can then just focus on being an elite defense first fullback.

Maybe we can scrape into the finals at the end of the season with
1. CNK
6. Williams
7. Hodgson
13. Wighton
9. Starling

(Not happening, I know.)

I misread this at first as ...in a magical land where we had a quality halfback in brooks.... Nearly spat my coffee out.

I appreciate that Brooks is on the nose, but I'm not adverse to the idea of signing him to be honest. Could be a disaster, but he has almost always suffered playing behind a terrible pack.

[Northern Raider]

He's 28 years old now, so closer to the end of his career than the start. Still, he maintains the agility and speed of an outside back. Had it not been for Croker, I think he'd have gone down second to Meninga for us as a centre and would've played 15+ Origins and Tests by now.

At this point I only see him as a running 5/8th from here on in. A lot of his skills and traits would be wasted trying to convert himself into a edge or middle forward, IMO.

Didn't realise Croker had both centre positions locked down this whole time.

Jack's definitely a left centre to me. There's a reason why he only attacks down the left, both as a fullback and 5/8.

Nothing like healthy speculation I guess.

[Seiffert82]

Why stop at 15+ tests?

The bloke barely keeps his spot at centre at Origin time. I love Wighton but he has far from excelled in that arena. Not sure where the 15 tests comes from.

Jackson, Daley and Wiki would all have something to say about Wighton being our #2 centre.

[afgtnk]

OR rather, you could say that the bloke has managed to play 5 Origins and 2 Tests in a position he's only played 22 games times at club level, the last of them being seven years ago.

[zim]

In 2018, before we recruited CNK and moved Wighton to 5/8 I expressed my opinion that Jack would make a great lock. I think that absolutely stands, he'd be elite in that role IMO.

As far as his kicking game goes, we made the GF in 2019 when Jack was on fire with his kick and chase game. He has all the ability in the world, but is just prone to errors.

Anyway, in a magical land where we had a quality halfback on the books, Wighton to 13 and G Williams to 6 would be unreal. CNK can then just focus on being an elite defense first fullback.

Maybe we can scrape into the finals at the end of the season with
1. CNK
6. Williams
7. Hodgson
13. Wighton
9. Starling

(Not happening, I know.)

I misread this at first as ...in a magical land where we had a quality halfback in brooks.... Nearly spat my coffee out.

I appreciate that Brooks is on the nose, but I'm not adverse to the idea of signing him to be honest. Could be a disaster, but he has almost always suffered playing behind a terrible pack.

I don't hate his guts like most either it was just so surprising to see it expressed on here. But I am in the camp that thinks it wouldn't work out.

Say for arguments sake it did happen. At the moment we are losing the ruck so while he's here he might end up behind a more talented pack that is still experiencing the same issues but for different reasons. You'd have to assume we can change that in the meantime, which I'd say is fair assumption.
I think the 2nd thing you'd need to do is make Wighton the dominant half. A sea change for Brooks might freshen him up but he seems to have always struggled playing the dominant half role.
The 3rd would be getting a second rower / centre in that is either smart or dominant in defense. They'd need to be able to take some pressure off him or react to the mistakes that he's going to make. More than the usual edge defender role. He's a better defender than past years but he certainly not a confident defender. You could switch Kris and Whitehead to the right. That's a lot of ifs and buts and I think some of those things we'd need to happen just aren't going to be done.

[Northern Raider]

OR rather, you could say that the bloke has managed to play 5 Origins and 2 Tests in a position he's only played 22 games times at club level, the last of them being seven years ago.

....at right centre

[afgtnk]

OR rather, you could say that the bloke has managed to play 5 Origins and 2 Tests in a position he's only played 22 games times at club level, the last of them being seven years ago.

....at right centre

What?

[Northern Raider]

OR rather, you could say that the bloke has managed to play 5 Origins and 2 Tests in a position he's only played 22 games times at club level, the last of them being seven years ago.

....at right centre

What?

You were saying it was Croker playing left centre is the reason he didn't stay in the centres himself.

[Luffto]

There's no way he's going to second row for at least another few years. He'll need 3-4 rubbish seasons before that's considered, in my opinion.

[Northern Raider]

There's no way he's going to second row for at least another few years. He'll need 3-4 rubbish seasons before that's considered, in my opinion.

Yeah but I can see it happening. He certainly has the physicality to make the move. It would only happen sooner if we had a better option at 5/8. Right now he's the guy.

[afgtnk]

OR rather, you could say that the bloke has managed to play 5 Origins and 2 Tests in a position he's only played 22 games times at club level, the last of them being seven years ago.

....at right centre

What?

You were saying it was Croker playing left centre is the reason he didn't stay in the centres himself.

Yes, that's what I suspect. Most of his games for us were at right centre. He didn't look that great. In the few opportunities he received on the left with Croker out, he seemed to fare a lot better.

Playing at left centre would've had him stop hopping around the backline between 2012 and 2013, and would never have precipitated the first failed moved into the halves IMO.

In the end of the day that's hindsight and speculation, it is what it is. He's not moving to centre at club now.