Now it is season over for the Canberra Raiders, we will be reviewing all 25 players who pulled on a green jersey in first grade in 2018.
2018 was not the best of years for Canberra Raiders fullback Jack Wighton. That had nothing to do with how he performed on field, rather off field indiscretions that saw him found guilty of assault and suspended by the NRL for the final 10 weeks of the competition. Wighton made just 13 appearances, but when he was on the field, he was one of the Raiders' best. Despite playing just half a season, he finished in the top six players in the Meninga Medal count and he finished equal with Jordan Rapana as Best Back in the Fans' Choice Award. In my player ratings for 2018, he finished fifth in average points per game (6.5) but, obviously, well down the list for total points.
His best game of the season came in Round 12, the last gasp win over the Sea Eagles, when he scored a try, made 17 runs for 159 metres and produced one try assist, one line break assist, five tackle breaks, three tackles, 52 kicking metres. I gave him an "8" rating in that match and a "7" rating in five other matches.
Wighton was certainly having a season in attack before his suspension. He only scored three tries himself, but he was in the top 10 fullbacks for total try involvements per match for the year - on par with Billy Slater and Kalyn Ponga. Remarkably, he produced 11 try assists in half a season, just two fewer than the whole of 2017. That was almost one try assist per match, which was second only to Tom Trbojevic in the NRL. He also produced 15 line break assists, which was top 10 in the NRL - and no fullback in the NRL did better on a per match basis. Wighton's running game was not at the benchmark in the NRL, but with an average of 132 metres gained per match (9.9 metres per run) he was in the game's top 10 fullbacks. He is off the pace with kick return metres, with just 32 metres per match - but still above Billy Slater and Darius Boyd. He was also well down the list of fullbacks for tackle breaks per match.
Wighton was oft criticised for his error rate and positioning in defence in 2017. However, this was improved in 2018. He produced 19 try causes and 34 errors in 2017, but just six try causes and 10 errors in half a season in 2018. He roughly halved both those categories of negative play, per match. Positioning aside, he is a good tackler, and he improved in 2018... reducing his missed tackle rate per match by half and lifting his tackle efficiency rate to 82 per cent. That could improve further however, given that tackle efficiency rate is not in the top 10 fullbacks.
Sadly, Wighton let himself and his team mates down with his off field indiscretion, and it had regrettable consequences for others. I have no doubt he is remorseful, and everyone makes mistakes. Hopefully, he'll come back to the field in Round 1 next year as a wiser person, having served his penalty. Up until Round 15, he was having a good to very good season - but my overall rating has to be impacted by his contribution to the overall season... and he played just over half of the 24 matches.
How did you rate Jack Wighton's 2018? Tell us below.
Jack Wighton's 2018: 4/10
2017 Statistics: (Stats from Fox Sports Lab)
Games: 13
Average minutes: 80
Points: 12
Tries: 3
Try assists: 11
Try contributions: 1
Total try involvements: 15
Total kicks: 6
Kick metres: 188
40/20’s: 0
Total runs: 173
All run metres: 1717
Average metres per carry: 9.9m
Average metres per game: 132m
Tackle breaks: 34
Offloads: 6
Line breaks: 3
Line break assists: 15
Tackles: 41
Average tackles per game: 3.2
1 on 1 tackles: 8
Missed tackles: 6
Average missed tackles per game: 0.5
Tackle efficiency: 82 per cent
Try causes: 6
Errors: 10
Penalties conceded: 4
