NRL News: Ricky rips into contract system as Souths announce Wighton deal, Bellamy decision 'imminent'

Ricky Stuart admits he’s hurting after star Canberra five-eighth Jack Wighton opted to leave the nation’s capital for South Sydney, lashing the NRL’s “flawed” contracting system in the process.

The Raiders boss confirmed Wighton had told the club on Tuesday he’d depart at season’s end, the Dally M and Clive Churchill medallist opting to link up with distant cousin Latrell Mitchell and chase a premiership with the Rabbitohs.

Souths announced the deal on Wednesday afternoon with Wighton signing on until the end of 2027.

It leaves a gaping hole in the middle of Canberra’s spine with the 225-game Raider a stalwart in his 15-year tenure at the club.

“I want to reassure you all that the club did everything possible to keep Jack at the Raiders and we wanted nothing more than to see him reach 300 games and become a one-club player,” Stuart said in a statement.

“I want to let our loyal members and fans know that I bleed green as much as you do, and as much as it hurts today, our future is still ahead of us, and we will continue on the path we best see fit to give this club the success it deserves.

“I personally won’t rest in my drive to make this club successful for you.”

Rabbitohs football manager Mark Ellison said Wighton was “one of the elite players in our competition”.

“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 said.

Canberra reportedly offered Wighton $4.4 million over four years to stay at the club, only for him to take significantly less money to shift to Souths.

That’s led to Raiders officials reportedly lodging a formal complaint with the NRL to ensure third-party arrangements are not making up the difference.

NRL CEO Andrew Abdo said the league hadn’t yet received Wighton’s contract but would follow standard processes when they get it.

“When the salary cap auditor receives it they’ll do what they do for every contract, which is check it against the cap, check it for market reasonability and then provide any feedback if there needs to be an adjustment,” he told AAP.

(Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

But Stuart took more of an issue with the timing of the negotiations, believing holding contract talks and seeing a player announce a move mid-season was “flawed”.

“It is not fair to (the fans) who I see as our major stakeholders, the club, and as importantly the players,” he said.

“I know it would have been hard for you, our Raiders fans, because I know what the feeling was like for me, to see an image of Jack in a (digitally-altered Souths jersey) on the back page of a Sydney paper today.”

For South Sydney, they’ll need to shuffle their back line to fit their recruit in the centres, with speculation Isaiah Tass could shift to a wing to make way.

Hooker Damien Cook said Wighton opting to join to give himself the best chance of winning a premiership was a vote of confidence in the club.

“(We could) move a few boys around the back line there, which is obviously a hard one at the moment too, because both our centres (Tass and Campbell Graham) are playing really good football,” he told Sky Radio.

“We all believe we can win the comp … for him to pick us and say that’s where he thinks is his best chance, knowing a lot of clubs would have been after him, that’s a massive hit of confidence for us as a team.”

Bellamy coaching call imminent, says chairman

Melbourne are hopeful they may have an answer on Craig Bellamy’s future by the end of the week with the coach set to meet with Storm chairman Matt Tripp.

The Storm gave Bellamy a month extension to make a call on whether he will lead the club for a 22nd NRL season or move in a director of coaching position.

He signed a five-year deal in 2021 but it had a clause that he could make the switch when he felt the time was right.

Tripp said Bellamy was aware they needed a decision so they could nail down a new coach for 2024 if required and felt the master mentor was close to making a call.

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“I feel it’s imminent,” Tripp told SEN. “Craig acknowledges that the longer it goes on the less runway we have to find a replacement.

Craig Bellamy (Photo by Daniel Pockett/Getty Images)

“We’ll never find a replacement like the great Craig Bellamy but we’ll need as much time to run a comprehensive and thorough search in order to get the right person and he realises with each week that runway shortens.”

Tripp felt a month ago Bellamy was “done” but now wasn’t certain which way he was leaning.

He said they planned to meet later in the week when he hoped to get a clearer picture of his intentions.

“We’ve got a couple of days off and he’s going to Queensland to see his family so he will speak to them and then towards the back-end of the year we will get together for a chat and I’m living in hope we can keep him for one more year.”

Tripp already got one prized signature in the bag with Kiwi Test prop Nelson Asofa-Solomona committing to a further four years, with the announcement coming after the Anzac Day victory over the Warriors.

Asofa-Solomona was in high demand, fielding huge offers from the Dolphins and also Rugby Australia to be a part of the Wallabies set-up.

Teddy not happy with security efforts on pitch invader

James Tedesco has admitted his fears for player safety after a pitch invader was able to reach and hug St George Illawarra centre Zac Lomax on Anzac Day.

A man ran onto the field late in the second half of the Dragons’ 27-26 loss to the Sydney Roosters, as play was stopped for a captain’s challenge.

The man was able to run to the middle of the field where he stood for some time waving his shirt around, before attracting the attention of security. He then ran towards the players and hugged Lomax, as the Dragons centre remained unmoved and did not react.

Vision of the incident also shows a security guard collecting a walkie-talkie that fell out of his pocket, rather than stopping the man as he approaches Crichton.

Asked about the incident, Roosters, NSW and Kangaroos Test captain Tedesco said security had to be better. “It’s very dangerous. Who knows what the invader could have on them or (if they want to) attack a player. It is a bit scary. 

“Obviously security needs to be a bit better there and not allow pitch invaders to get in contact with any players.”

Dragons captain Ben Hunt also said it was a concern for players. “I guess it is a bit of a concern if someone can get to a player and tackle them or something like that,” Hunt said. 

(Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

“I guess it’s dangerous, but what can you do? You can’t put 1000 security around the fence. You’ve just got to be aware of them when they come.”

The incident comes amid a spate of crowd invasions in the NRL in the past year. Then Wests Tigers captain James Tamou called for a protester at a game last year to be a wake-up call for officials, after he brought a flare onto Pointsbet Stadium and had to be held by Tigers lock Joe Ofahengaue.

Dragons prop Blake Lawrie was also forced to stop a pitch invader in a game in Wollongong last year after he remained on the field for a full minute and ran up and down the sideline.

Former Canberra playmaker Mark McLinden was the most bizarre pitch invader of 2022, after storming the field during the grand final. McLinden removed the padding from the goal posts as he attempted to tie himself to it as part of a climate protest.