He's still embarrassed by it, the backyard trampoline accident during a bye week in 2012 when the then 19-year-old came a cropper and tore ligaments from bones in his foot.

Turns out, he was doing backflips from the trampoline to the ground at his family home in Orange and was so determined not to tell his Raiders teammates or coaches of the tumble that he trained on for two days before the pain became unbearable.

"The injury he sustained, if the surgery didn't go right there was a chance he'd never play again," said former Raiders coach David Furner. "I remember the specialist saying there'd only been two cases where they'd operated on it in Australia, so they had to seek information from the States. It was an injury that could have ended his career.

"It's a trick he's probably done many times before, you only need to see how athletic he is ... I don't think he's got much fear, Jacko."

Yep, 47 NRL games now down, and Wighton is back to his back-flippin' best, if you've seen footage of his flick-flacking try celebration when the Raiders beat the Storm at Canberra Stadium last season. He's also been known to entertain Raiders teammates with a standing back-flip in the changeroom after a victory song.

But fearless? The 21-year-old admits he suffers bad nerves. Nerves that bring him to the point of nausea before games. Nerves about the impending arrival of his first baby, a girl, later this month. Nerves turning up at 6.50am to his first day on a real job site earlier this year, at Queanbeyan's Top End Pub, to start a carpentry apprenticeship.

On his one day off from football each week, Wighton now works as an apprentice for Queanbeyan's Gibson and Harriden Carpentry, pushing barrows, knocking down walls, learning the trade. The usual four-year apprenticeship will take him six because of football.

"I've had a few injuries and it's really opened my eyes, it's made me realise it can go at the drop of a hat," Wighton said. "I want this trade behind me so that even if footy goes downhill, I have something there.

"The first half of the season when I wasn't doing anything, I'd be lazy on my day off and not do much.

"When I started the carpentry it really refreshed my week. It just takes my mind right away from football for a day."

On the rugby league field, Wighton looks a natural. He debuted as a teenager on the wing, a position, he'd never played. He played the 2012 finals in his rookie year, has represented NSW Country twice and was selected for this year's Prime Minister's XIII, until a tweaked knee ruled him out.

Nothing seems to faze him... But internally he's doing backflips.

"Sometimes I'm spewing and carrying on before a game. Even now, I get nervous," Wighton said. "It only takes the first tackle or run and then the nerves go out the back-door. Just the build up gets me most of the time."

It's why Wighton would like to settle in one position for 2014. He's played every backline position during his short career. But he could have found his spot after finishing the season with three games at fullback.

"We had to fill out a sheet on the first day of pre-season and say what position we are - I just wrote outside back because I don't even know at the moment," Wighton said. "The pre-season will determine where I'm going to go. I love fullback, I didn't know I would, I'd love to play there, but I love centres too.

"Thats' what I'm looking for, to nail one position and learn all the tricks of the trade."

Furner says Wighton could play prop is he was asked. Raiders coach Ricky Stuart experimented with Wighton at five-eighth to start this year, likening him to champion six, Laurie Daley.

Furner saw the same thing and had Daley ring Wighton early in his career, passing on advice. Daley this year called on Wighton to train with the NSW Blues.

"I've never really liked to tag a player because everyone's individual, even if they might have traits, but I see a lot of Laurie in Jacko. That raw, talented kid from from the country arriving at Canberra, ends up playing centre but finishes his career at five-eighth. I still think that's Jacko, I still think he'll make a very good six."

Wighton said: "He's given me a a couple of calls earlier in my career, a little bit of guidance if I wasn't going too flash."

"Them boots are too big to fill. It's good to hear someone say that, but it's a long, long journey to get near anyone like that."

Asked if he's maturing, Wighton gives a schoolboy laugh. "Slowly," he grins.

"I've got to keep growing in that way, especially now a baby is coming. But from the kid I was when I first came to Canberra, I think I've come a long way."

Wighton has been applying his new trade skills to his own home renovations too, buying a property in Kaleen with partner Monisha this year and getting it ready for their family.

"I can't wait, I just want her to come now, the house is nearly ready for her," Wighton says of his baby girl, due November 12. "I'm really excited and a little bit nervous."