![An emotional Jack Wighton after helping Canberra to a 31-30 win over the Dolphins at Equex Centre on Saturday following a week in the spotlight. Pictures by Les Smith An emotional Jack Wighton after helping Canberra to a 31-30 win over the Dolphins at Equex Centre on Saturday following a week in the spotlight. Pictures by Les Smith](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/J7tLankfguv74QY82b3G7h/c7f77afb-6503-4406-8a52-fd20a1d6e0ce.jpg/r0_236_2953_1982_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Jack Wighton and Ricky Stuart were both in tears after Canberra's golden point win at Wagga capped off a dramatic week.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
While the Raiders star announced his move to South Sydney on a new four-year deal starting next season during the week, he was heavily involved in the 31-30 victory.
Stuart thought the performance showed the quality of his star five-eighth.
Especially after finding himself in a difficult position.
"We've been criticised as a club and I feel sorry for Jack," Stuart said.
"Jack is our mate, we've had a long association with him and he's been put in a difficult position.
"He had to make a decision and I'm ok with the decision.
"There's a lot of excuses going around as to why Jack is leaving and it's all crap.
"Jack wants a bit of a change, he's been here a long time and wants a bit of a change.
"I get that and he's 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 is hard on those players to make these decisions in regards to their futures, hard for our fans and hard for players."
READ MORE
Stuart said the criticism Wighton has received has been rotten but he was proud of how the whole playing group handled it.
Coming off the bye, Stuart was thrilled with how the Raiders started the clash.
They jumped out to a 18-0 lead before the Dolphins fought their way back into the clash.
Despite the late rally, the Raiders delivered the killer blow as Jamal Fogarty slotted a field goal in golden point to make it three wins in a row.
The Dolphins staged a big comeback last week to overturn a 26-0 deficit to down Gold Coast Titans last week.
Second half points haven't always come easily for the Raiders, but the response gives the club plenty of momentum heading into a Magic Round clash with the Bulldogs on Friday.
"We spoke at half-time about them being a football team that never dies, spoke about needing to be good for another 40 minutes as they wouldn't go away," Stuart said.
"I have to give credit to the players in regards to how they prepared this week.
"It's been a week where I needed the boys, especially the senior players.
"Elliott (Whitehead) and Toots (Jarrod Croker) the way they've captained this week has been really beneficial to me.
"We wanted to reveal a bit of character this week and I reckon we did."
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
- Download our app from the Apple Store or Google Play
- Bookmark dailyadvertiser.com.au
- Follow us on Twitter
- Follow us on Instagram
- Follow us on Google News
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters