The 2024 NRL regular season is still a few weeks away but there’s plenty to discuss over a schooner or two between now and then.
Instead of recycling the usual clichéd pre-season rhetoric, I’m picking out some genuine NRL talking points until Round 1 kicks off in Las Vegas.
From team list changes, positional battles and shapes on my wish-list, let’s dive into some 2024 NRL Pre-Season Pub Talk.
Jack the Rabbit
Between all the Christmas ham and day drinking over the last month, you might’ve forgotten that Jack Wighton brought a three-game suspension with him to South Sydney this season.
The Bunnies star recruit won’t be seen in his new colours until at least Round 3 (or Round 4 if the NRL All Stars game isn’t counted against his suspension) meaning we’ve got that little bit longer to wait until all Wighton-related questions are answered – namely where he will play.
At the time of writing, Wighton is pencilled into the left-centre position, with Isaiah Tass shifting to the right wing.
There’s plenty to like about this setup; primarily, Wighton and Campbell Graham will give Souths two of the strongest ball carriers in the NRL on plays two & three in exit sets. This will help to balance out a comparatively unproductive back-three in yardage between the likes of Alex Johnston, Latrell Mitchell, Tyrone Munro and Taane Milne.
Wighton linking with Cody Walker from the centres in attack is appealing too given Walker’s preference to play out the back of his lead runner:
Where Walker has made Tass look good in his 39 NRL game career so far, Wighton will relish the extra time and space provided by his five-eighth while playing one channel wider.
Wighton’s strength as a ball runner could also introduce some variation to the shapes Walker has run successfully (for the most part) over the last few seasons in Clubland. This crash play for Bradman Best in State of Origin Game III last year is a recent example and one we don’t usually see from Walker and the Rabbitohs in the NRL:
It’s easy to picture Wighton crashing over in the centres like this in 2024 while Tass provides his modest 124 running metres per game from the right wing.
In Round 1 (with Wighton suspended) however, it’ll be Tass in his familiar left-centre position and young-gun Tyrone Munro presumably on the right wing.
Munro did it all in his brief NRL cameo last season; he scored three tries in three games with blistering pace and footwork while also bombing a few more in his inexperience. Barring a few houses trained down over the summer, Munro may still be lacking the physicality required for regular first-grade but he’s got the first few rounds to prove us wrong.
If Munro performs, though, and Tass maintains his steady trajectory in the centres, does Jason Demetriou consider moving Jack Wighton into the backrow on his return from suspension?
I’ve been keen on this idea since the signing was announced.
First and foremost, Wighton’s gravity as a ball carrier suggests he would make for an imposing lead decoy in block shapes.
The current sample size is small. From a few brief cameos in the backrow last year, Wighton ran two or three fairly underwhelming lead decoys that aren’t worth showing here. More than anything, they’re testament to what is a sorely understated skill in rugby league; hitting the right hole at the right angle at the right time.
Wighton is unlikely to nail this specialist backrower action right away – or even over a summer – but his presence could at the very least interest the defence as Walker looks to play out the back.
It’s easy to picture Souths using Wighton to similar effect out in the centres, isolating the defending centre with Wighton as the lead runner and Latrell Mitchell sweeping out the back. Swap Tass out for Wighton here and Stephen Crichton is only in more trouble:
Wighton also offers a genuine third-choice pass or kick option on the end of sets.
Like former Raiders teammate Elliott Whitehead and current assistant coach John Sutton, Wighton has the skillset and experience to spot up on the last when presented with a cue; such as both markers caught offside and a prop filling in at three-man:
Given Lachlan Ilias’ troubles with the boot at times last year, having an extra kicking option will only be a good thing for the Rabbitohs in 2024.
Throw in his kick chase game and physicality, and Wighton suddenly looms as a potential answer to South Sydney’s lingering question in the second row.
Whether it’s there or out in the centres though, Wighton can be the guy to straighten things up for South Sydney’s left edge in 2024.