3 minute read

Canberra five-eighth Jack Wighton says he's back having fun as the ninth-placed Raiders make an unlikely charge towards the NRL finals.

As his team hunts for an unlikely NRL finals berth, Canberra playmaker Jack Wighton says rugby league is "fun" again.

The Raiders sit ninth on points differential and are chasing wins in the three rounds remaining, starting with Manly on Friday night at Suncorp Stadium.

They welcome the return of Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad for the first time since round five, but skipper Jarrod Croker is out with a knee complaint.

While a finals appearance is far from assured, it's a big leap up the ladder after a woeful run where they won just two of 11 games.

Struggling Wighton was in the gun, last year's Dally M Medal winner not polling a point before voting for this year's award went behind closed doors.

But the 28-year-old looked to have found his attacking mojo last round against Melbourne, with 27 run metres and three try assists for winger Bailey Simonsson.

The Raiders ultimately fell short but NSW Origin representative Wighton was upbeat about his game on Tuesday.

"I'm just having fun again - after I had a bit of an Origin lull and was just a little bit down on energy and a few things weren't happening for me," Wighton said.

"It was good to have a bit of fun on the weekend and a few things came off so I will keep trying to do that."

Wighton said there was "a lot of nonsense" outside the game which had taken its toll.

"Sometimes things just run from one thing to the other so it's good to get that fresh feeling back and play some footy and have some fun."

Nicoll-Klokstad has been out since injuring his neck against the Panthers in round five and will make his comeback via the bench, with Jordan Rapana retained at fullback. Sebastian Kris will come in for Croker.

Meanwhile, Wighton said it would be difficult to cover the loss of interchange hooker Tom Starling, who had surgery on Tuesday on a fractured jaw.

Matt Frawley has been named in his place on the bench to meet the fifth-placed Sea Eagles.

"It really hurts - Tommy's been one of our better players all year," he said.

"Every time he comes on something exciting happens so that's a little bit of a bugger he's gone out the way he has," Wighton said.