NSW will be without the services of Jack Wighton for State of Origin after the Canberra star called time on his representative career.
It will also bring the curtain down on his Australia career, and it remains to be seen if he will continue to play in the Indigenous All Stars match at the beginning of the year.
Wighton has endured a topsy-turvy opening to 2023: he was arrested celebrating his 30th birthday in Canberra before the season began, was suspended for two weeks after a late hit on Newcastle’s Jackson Hastings and recently went public with his desire to test his value on the open market before committing to a new deal with the Raiders.
His on-field form has been less than stellar and it would have been unlikely that he would have started in Game 1 of Origin this year given the return to fitness of Latrell Mitchell and Tom Trbojevic, both of whom missed last year’s series.
Wighton has been a mainstay of Blues squads since 2019, playing in the centres, at five eighth and as a bench utility. Though he was dropped for Games 2 and 3 last year, he recovered to make the Kangaroos squad for the World Cup, scoring two tries in five games as Australia won the trophy.
North Queensland star Jason Taumalolo is set to miss as many as six weeks after it was announced that the Tonga international is set for surgery on his knee.
“Jason Taumalolo will have surgery on a knee cartilage injury on Thursday,” read a club statement. “After consultation with club medical staff it was decided the injury had reached the point where surgery was required.”
The lock will miss a month minimum as he rehabs the knee, including tough trips to Cronulla, Parramatta and the Roosters.
He is the latest Cowboys forward to go down injured following Heilum Luki, Griffin Neame, Jordan McLean and Jason Tamou, as well as Luciano Leilua who is missing under the NRL no-fault stand down policy.
Souths star Keoan Koloamatangi has been robbed of the chance of an Origin debut after it was revealed that the edge forward sustained an ankle injury in the Bunnies win over the Dolphins.
He had been widely tipped for his first NSW appearance, but will now face 6-8 weeks on the sidelines, with the longer time possible if the backrower has to have surgery.
NSW are struggling in the edge forward department, with Liam Martin unable to stay fit due to a hamstring issue, Angus Crichton only edging back after taking personal leave now Koloamatangi unavailable.
Haumole Olakau’atu, who played alongside Kolomatangi for Tonga at the World Cup, is now a frontrunner to debut.
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