Raiders’ star Jack Wighton can’t wait to face the Rabbitohs at Dubbo’s Apex Oval

While the Raiders are marked down as the visiting team in next month’s game in Dubbo, the team’s star five-eighth is looking forward to the opportunity to play in front of what will feel like a home crowd.

There is one player who might prove more popular than anyone at the South Sydney Rabbitohs when they face off against the Canberra Raiders at Apex Oval in Dubbo on Sunday, May 22.

Raiders’ star five-eighth, Jack Wighton, has a strong affinity with the city and the broader Central Western region, growing up in Orange and frequently visiting family in Gilgandra, Wellington and Peak Hill.

While the Raiders are marked down as the visiting team, Wighton is looking forward to the opportunity to play in front of what will feel like a home crowd.

“I’ve spent [quite] a bit of my life travelling around Dubbo and Gilgandra,” Wighton told The Dubbo News.

“I’m a country boy through and through and any game out there in the Central West that’s not far from your family is a home game for me. It’s closer to your heart.

“It will be the best [feeling], you [will] just have to look around at the crowds and see their love for the game and the passion that you [will] get from the supporters out there - there’s a lot of blue collared workers and they enjoy it and appreciate it more than anybody.”

Wighton has been one of the standout performers in the NRL, representing NSW in the State of Origin and narrowly beating Panthers’ star Nathan Cleary for the league’s biggest individual award, the Dally M medal in 2020.

This year has been a turbulent year for the Raiders with two wins in six games played, but by next month’s blockbuster game in Dubbo, Wighton is “hopeful” the side will have turned around their season.

“Week to week I’m just trying to put my best foot forward for the Raiders and hope that leads to finals,” he said.

“We’re very good for stints but we just have those moments where we lack concentration and if we want to be real contenders we have to fix that for 80 minutes.

“It just comes back to everyone needing to take individual accountability, everyone needs to do their job.”

Last year saw the NRL return to Dubbo with what turned out to be a grand-final preview with the Rabbitohs hosting the Penrith Panthers in a one-sided affair for the visitors.

Member for Dubbo, Dugald Saunders and Dubbo Mayor, Mathew Dickerson, at Dubbo Regional Council’s 'Festival of Footy' launch.

The game was organised by Member for Dubbo, Dugald Saunders, who was named as chair of the NSW Government’s NRL Regional Task Force in 2020.

“I was lucky enough to be part of the process of getting last year’s game and this year’s game sorted out,” Mr Saunders told The Dubbo News at the launch of Dubbo Regional Council’s month-long ‘Festival of Footy’ on Thursday evening.

“From day one we were looking for a longer term relationship, and we’ve built on that one year game to now having a second year, which is a really positive thing.”

Mr Saunders is pleased with the economic and social influences the game has had in Dubbo and the surrounding areas, saying “it drives tourism of a different kind” to the regions.

“Sports tourism is a different way for regional areas to actually capture [an] audience that they wouldn’t otherwise,” Saunders added.

Now that Dubbo has become a staple fixture in the NRL, Mr Saunders is confident about securing more games in regional areas.

“It’s [now] about getting as many games as we can. Part of that is around the opportunities we’ve provided to councils with some of our state fundings, so I’ve been able to do that,” Mr Saunders said.

One major regional centre with plans of hosting a game is Orange, the home of Wighton with Orange Sports Complex still in operation.

“The people of Orange would love that and I would love that,” Wighton said.

“It’s a great sporting town and it’s growing by the day. It’s a small city but it’ll be good for the game and the [regions]”.