A short-lived period testing his value on the free agency market is over, with Jack Wighton officially linking up with the South Sydney Rabbitohs on a four-year deal.
Wighton, who played in the 2019 NRL grand final with the Canberra Raiders, has more than 200 games of experience under his belt during what has been up until now a one-club career.
A New South Wales State of Origin and Australian Kangaroos representative, Wighton has also won a Dally M Medal and Clive Churchill Medal during his career, with the deal to lock him into Jason Demetriou's squad at Redfern until at least the end of the 2027 season.
A five-eighth during recent times at the Raiders, he will likely have to shift into a different backline role until at least the end of the 2025 campaign, with Cody Walker signed for that long as the club's first-choice number six.
The Rabbioths, in signing Wighton from the start of 2024, are believed to have starved off offers with more money attached to them from both the Dolphins and Canberra Raiders, with Wighton's desire to win a premiership before he retires deemed to be a driving force behind the decision to shift to Redfern, where he will link up with great mate Latrell Mitchell.
“Jack Wighton is one of the elite players in our competition and it is wonderful to be able to add him to our squad for the following four seasons,” Rabbitohs head of football Mark Ellison said in a club statement.
“He has shown both at the Raiders and in representative teams that he can excel at any level. In our discussions with him over the past few weeks, and in his performances on the field over the past decade, he has shown that he will add great value to our team on the park and to our Club off the field.
“He spoke to us about the family feel at the Club and the obvious brotherhood amongst the playing group. Here he will be able to play alongside some of his great mates as well as representative and former club teammates in Latrell Mitchell, Cody Walker, Cameron Murray, Damien Cook, Campbell Graham, Alex Johnston, Isaiah Tass, Shaquai Mitchell and Siliva Havili.
“He was also very impressed by the facilities at our new training base at the USANA Rabbitohs Centre in Maroubra and he feels as though he can help us achieve our collective goal of more premiership success for this Club.
“We feel like he can play his best football with us over the next four seasons and we know he will help us win football games on the field, but he will also help enrich the lives of those in the Rabbitohs and Souths Cares' communities as well.
“We wish Jack the best of luck for the rest of the season in Canberra and we look forward to him joining the Rabbitohs family later this year ahead of the 2024 season and beyond.”
Confirmation of the deal comes after the Raiders expressed their disappointment at Wighton's decision to exit the club earlier on Wednesday, with coach Ricky Stuart admitting they had done everything they could to keep Wighton, and believing that the NRL's transfer rules need changes.
Wighton will officially link up with his new team on November 1, with the 30-year-old's four-year deal, fitness pending, to ensure he goes past 300 NRL games.
