Dolphins spark Wighton bidding war as new deal tabled amid shock ...

THE South Sydney Rabbitohs are on the verge of landing one of the biggest recruitment coups in recent seasons in the form of Canberra Raiders star Jack Wighton.

Fox League has learned Wighton will travel to Sydney on Friday to finalise what is tipped to be a four-year deal with South Sydney until the end of 2027.

The contract is expected to be worth around the $3.4 million mark over four seasons – which is $1 million less than the $4.4 million deal the Raiders have tabled.

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Round 8

The Rabbitohs trump card is Wighton’s great mateship with superstar fullback Latrell Mitchell, the desire to win a premiership and South Sydney’s proud Indigenous history.

Mitchell, Wighton, Cameron Murray and Campbell Graham were all part of Australia’s victorious World Cup campaign in Europe last year and remain close mates.

While the Raiders and Dolphins being involved in a bidding war for Wighton has been made public, behind-the-scenes the Rabbitohs have also been busily crunching the numbers and trying to work out a way to make the deal happen.

Superstar fullback Mitchell is believed to have told Rabbitohs coach Jason Demetriou about Wighton’s interest in joining South Sydney last month.

The negotiations have evolved from there with Wighton’s close mate and adviser Matt Rose also the adviser and close mate of Rabbitohs strike players Mitchell and Cody Walker.

The plan is for Wighton to play left centre at the Rabbitohs and the deal would align him to the same time line at South Sydney as Mitchell, who is signed with the Bunnies until the end of the 2027 season.

It’s come out of left field but as it sits at the moment the Bunnies are in the box seat to have Wighton in red and green next year.

On the back of the South Sydney interest being made public, the Dolphins have now also bumped their offer up from a three-year deal to a four-year deal.

Supercoach Wayne Bennett has been in regular contact with Wighton and the prospect of linking with the Dolphins is still on the table now the NRL’s 17th team have upped the ante to a four-year contract.

But Wighton would only get to play under Bennett for one season before Krisitan Wolf becomes the Dolphins coach in 2025.

If it comes down to dollars then the Raiders offer is still the most lucrative of everything on the table.

While the Dolphins remain confident having matched the four-year deal the South Sydney meeting in Sydney tomorrow is pivotal.

The Bunnies are also bullish about being in the box seat. 

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THIS isn’t the first time we’ve seen the Sydney Roosters make hard-line calls when it comes to the Tricolours no.7 jumper.

After winning his first NRL premiership in 2013, Roosters coach Trent Robinson tipped the rugby league world off its axis when the Chooks signed Cooper Cronk over Mitchell Pearce at the end of 2017.

Cronk went on to help the Roosters to back-to-back premierships while Pearce moved on to the Newcastle Knights and then the UK Super League.

With the Cronk retirement looming at the end of 2019, the Roosters went hard to sign Kyle Flanagan out of the Cronulla Sharks and eventually landed his signature on a three-year contract.

But Flanagan would only survive 12 months with the Roosters, being swiftly moved on after the club exited the finals in week two.

Enter Sam Walker – a young gun halfback out of Ipswich who had been a teenage superstar in Brisbane.

Walker is now in his third season as an NRL player at the age of 20 and recently chalked up his 50th NRL game.

The Dally M Rookie of the Year in 2021, Walker recently extended his contract with the Roosters until the end of 2025.

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Rival clubs are already closely monitoring this situation after Walker was axed to the NSW Cup on Tuesday.

Instead of playing in front of a sold-out Allianz Stadium on Anzac Day, Walker will be running out in front of a few hundred people at Wentworth Park on Sunday.

Walker hails from a proud rugby league family and as Braith Anasta said on NRL 360 on Tuesday night we’re tipping he’ll be a ten-year NRL player.

There’s plenty of champion players been dropped over the years. Roosters coach Trent Robinson has done it with Joey Manu and Latrell Mitchell.

Walker will be back. The question is, when? Especially if Manu carves it up at five-eighth and the Roosters find their mojo.

The Roosters remain adamant Walker remains the long-term no.7 for the Tricolours.

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BULLDOGS coach Cameron Ciraldo has clarified Matt Burton’s selection in the no.7 jumper with Canterbury-Bankstown wanting the club’s star player to take greater control of the team.

In the midst of an injury crisis and searching for Canterbury’s fourth win of the season, Ciraldo has tasked Burton with providing the club with better direction as the Bulldogs prepare to face Cronulla on Super Saturday.

Canterbury-Bankstown produced one of the upsets of the season to beat Melbourne Storm in round two and scored a golden point win over the Cowboys in round five before leaking 80 points in back-to-back losses in the past fortnight.

“We’re wanting to get the ball in Burto’s hands more and get him to take more ownership in the team,” Ciraldo told Fox League.

“He’s our man and he’s not getting the ball as much as we’d like him to.

“We could have done it without swapping the numbers but we feel like this is the best symbol this is your team Matt and now we want him to own it.

“We’re looking for better direction.

“With Kyle playing five-eighth it helps his game as well and allows him to knuckle down, simplify his role and work of the things we’ve asked him to work on.”

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There was a school of thought the Bulldogs may have been preparing to debut teenage half Karl Oloapu after the rookie playmaker was named in the no.18 jumper but Ciraldo stipulated this was not the case.

“There’s no ducks and drakes, Kyle will be playing five-eighth.”

Oloapu has impressed everyone at Belmore since arriving at the club and stripping 6kgs off his frame to currently tip the scales at 95kg.

The young gun has also been super-physical at training, often out-muscling some of the Bulldogs more established stars.

It’s only a matter of when, not if, Oloapu will get his opportunity this season.