The Canberra Raiders might be welcoming back more than just their fullback – Jack Wighton's return from suspension might also signal the return of their barometer as well.
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Wighton's "rollercoaster season" seems to dictate how the Raiders fair in their NRL clashes – when he's on song they generally win and when he's not, they don't.
But the 23-year-old was hoping to finish the season off strongly as he returns from a one-game ban against the Gold Coast Titans at Cbus Super Stadium on Sunday.
The Raiders' come-from-behind victory over the Canterbury Bulldogs in round 12 sums up the effect Wighton has.
He struggled in the first half as the Bulldogs got out to a 20-10 lead, but played a crucial role in setting up winger Edrick Lee's try to seal a 32-20 victory.
Wighton backed that up with another brilliant performance in their 30-18 win over Manly the following week.
He also had strong showings when they beat the Bulldogs, the New Zealand Warriors and the Wests Tigers, while struggling against St George Illawarra and Parramatta.
It bodes well for the Raiders if he can finish the season like he plans to.
"It's [been] a bit of a rollercoaster you know. I've been in every game, but there's a been a few things that haven't gone my way, but that's nothing I can't change," Wighton said on Thursday.
"I'm not sure [how my season compares to previous ones], I've still got a few games to go so hopefully I finish well and I'll be able to tell you."
Wighton said he'd learnt a valuable lesson from his one-game suspension for making contact with touch judge Brett Suttor, which he labelled as an "honest mistake" and unintentional.
He said he was simply caught up in the moment as he remonstrated with Suttor when Raiders captain Jarrod Croker was put into touch with Canberra close to the Manly line.
There was no malice in Wighton's actions, but he was the victim of the NRL's crackdown on players touching officials.
"That's it mate. That was an honest mistake, there was nothing in it I thought, I was just being excited in the moment of the game and there was no intention to even get near him, it just happened," Wighton said.
He was impressed with how Zac Santo filled in at fullback in his absence, with Santo making a try-saving strip on former Raider Anthony Milford.
Wighton said the pair would push each other for the rest of the season.
"You've got to have good competition to have a good club," he said.
"He's going to keep me honest and I'm going to keep him honest from now on so that's the great thing about the depth we've got in this team at the moment."
The Raiders' clash against the Titans is shaping as a massive one, with just one point separating the respective seventh and eighth-placed teams.
While they're only 1½ wins outside the top four, Canberra are also just one point above the Dragons who are in 11th place.
After the Titans, they face Newcastle and the Cowboys before having another bye.
Wighton said it was a chance to show whether they were genuine contenders or not.
"Yeah definitely, that's a simple but good way of putting it. We're going to have to stand up or that big traffic jam sitting behind us on the ladder is going to overtake us," he said.
"This next few weeks going into the bye it could be really good for us or really bad for us. We need to make that our own and hopefully we can get a few points over the next few weeks."
NRL ROUND 16
Sunday: Canberra Raiders v Gold Coast Titans at Cbus Super Stadium, 2pm. Live on Fox Sports 1.
