An emotional Ricky Stuart has slammed lies and innuendo circling around Jack Wighton's departure from the club at season's end after the star representative five-eighth put on a clinic to help his side topple the Dolphins on Saturday in Wagga Wagga.
The Raiders were fast out of the blocks in the clash, and Wighton scored the second try for the Raiders in just the fifth minute, with the lead hitting 22 points to 12 at the halftime break.
The Dolphins were able to scratch and claw their way back into the game for the second week in a row after their shock come from behind win over the Gold Coast Titans last week, but this time, they fell short as a Jamal Fogarty field goal iced the game for the green machine in golden point.
The Raiders, who have had an exceptionally tough week off the field following confirmation Jack Wighton would link up with the South Sydney Rabbitohs on a four-year deal from the start of the 2024 season, showed no ill-effects of a disrupted preparation on-field, and Stuart said he was exceptionally proud of his side's effort.
"We planned it at halftime. We spoke about them being a football team that never dies, and spoke about that we had to be good for another 40 minutes, because they wouldn't go away," Stuart said.
"I've got to credit the players in regards to how they prepared this week.
"We wanted to reveal a bit of character this week, and I reckon we did."
Stuart, as he did during the week in a Raiders' club statement criticising the system that allowed Wighton to sign with a rival club months out from the end of the season, took to calling for change, while also saying he felt sorry for Wighton and labelling the excuses floating around surrounding desire to win a premiership 'crap'.
Instead, he said Wighton simply wanted a change after playing more than 225 games with the Raiders since his debut in the NRL a decade ago. Wighton has been with the Raiders since he was scouted as a 15-year-old.
"We have been criticised as a club. I feel sorry for Jack. Jack is our mate. We have had a long association with him. He has been put in a difficult position where he had to make a decision, and I'm okay with the decision," Stuart said.
"There are a lot of excuses going around about why Jack's leaving, and it's all crap. Jack wants a bit of a change. He has been here for a long time, and I get that.
"He is the least of my worries in regards to turning up every week to play a game of football for the rest of the season, but he shouldn't be put in that situation in regards to the way the system is at the moment. It's hard on those players who have to make a decision on their futures.
"It's hard on our fans, it's hard on players who are then put into a position who have to make those calls, and then you have these boys who are playing with Jack, which I never had any problems with in regards to knowing Jack's on board with us. But all the innuendo, the criticism Jack's got, it's wrong.
"We need to make it a better system so we can make it easier for teams, teammates, the clubs and the players making decisions."
The coach who always wears his heart on his sleeve said no one on the outside understands what he and CEO Don Furner go through to protect the club, or the level of pressure and stress Wighton has been under in recent times as he made the decision on his future.
"No one on the outside understands how Don [Furner] and myself have to protect the club," Stuart said.
"No one understands the pressure that Jack's had on him. They only hear the hearsay, and there is so much lies and innuendo as to why Jack's leaving. He is going for a change, he has been here for a long time and I get that. I really do."
Asked about the chance of an early release, as was in the headlines earlier this week, Wighton suggested the performance on Saturday afternoon put an end to that discussion.
"Don't you think that performance puts an end to that story [regarding the potential of an early season release]," Stuart asked.
"We all love him. If we weren't hurt by it, him going, we don't care about him. We don't care about the club. Am I pissed off that he's going? Yeah, I am. But that's his decision."
The win is the Radiers' fourth of the year, and leaves them equal on points with teams ahead of them at the bottom of the top eight ahead of next Friday's magic round clash with the Canterbury Bulldogs.
