Clive Churchill Medal man Jack Wighton joins Bradley Clyde in history

Raiders five-eighth Jack Wighton may have been on the beaten side but he was the best player on the field.

Raiders five-eighth Jack Wighton dives over to score against the Roosters at ANZ Stadium. Picture: Jonathan Ng

Bradley Clyde was spotted strolling through the tunnel at ANZ Stadium soon after fulltime in the grand final on Sunday night, the former Canberra forward seemingly without a care in the world.

Clyde, one of the greatest players the game has seen, is one of those rare birds to win the Clive Churchill Medal in a beaten team on grand final day.

On Sunday night, he was joined in the record books by Canberra five-eighth Jack Wighton. In a beaten Raiders side, Wighton was brilliant.

He scored a try and threatened to score numerous others. He flattened anything that moved. He tormented the Sydney Roosters with every touch.

Much like Clyde all those years ago — as well as Brad Mackay and Daly Cherry-Evans, two others who won the award in losing teams — he didn’t deserve to be on the wrong side of the scoreboard.

Sadly for Wighton, that’s where he and the Raiders ended up. Wighton has come a long way in a short time. He was suspended by the NRL in the middle of last season after an incident off the field but got his house in order and his football has followed.

He was outstanding for NSW in the State of Origin series. He led Canberra through a season that almost ended in glory.

He certainly did everything humanly possible on Sunday night, although even that wasn’t enough for some disgruntled Roosters fans behind the goalposts.

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They jeered Wighton as he made his way onto stage to accept the medal. More fool them. Wighton was a deserving winner and chances are that on Monday morning he will receive another reward — a place in the Australian side for Test matches later in the year.

“The best player on the field got the award tonight,” Canberra coach Ricky Stuart said.

“Whether those people out there booed agreed or not, Jack didn’t pick it. Three legends of our game ... picked the award.

“I think they know a little bit more than the wombats sitting behind the goalposts.”

Wighton didn’t look like a man who had just won one of the most prestigious honours in the game. He wore the hangdog look of a man who had suffered the sort of defeat that stays with you for a lifetime.

He said as much afterwards when he was asked about winning the Clive Churchill Medal.

“Probably the worst moment of my night losing a grand final,” Wighton said.

He was a constant threat in attack against the Roosters, stepping two defenders on his way for his first-half try.

The Raiders five-eighth also came up with a number of jarring hits, including one on Roosters secondrower Angus Crichton in the first half. He also produced the kick Roosters fullback James Tedesco failed to defuse that led to referee Ben Cummins wrongly signalling six again before changing his mind.

Wighton was left shattered following the result.

“Very numb at the moment, mate,” he said.

“First time being in this position but I really felt we had the team to do it this year, you know. We actually did. We got beaten by a good team. Just one of them games, mate. It is a hard one to soak in first time being here.

“But it is just hard to swallow.

“So close but so far. That was the competition all year, you know. Hats off to our boys, great year. Hats off to the Roosters but absolutely gut wrenching. It’s a feeling I can’t explain, mate.”

It caps off a strong year for the 26-year-old, who successfully made the transition into the halves this year and also made his NSW State of Origin debut.