But the Raiders five-eighth admits he and halfback Aidan Sezer will need to find another level for their date with the Melbourne Storm at Canberra Stadium on Friday night.

Canberra have long been criticised for coughing up leads and losing close games but 26-year-old Wighton hopes orchestrating a shutout in torrential Gold Coast rain proves the new-look halves combination is clicking.

Wighton lines up in the No. 6 jersey are more complete player than the one that played at fullback - he looks just as threatening in attack and defence while boasting a vastly improved kicking game to complement Sezer.

"It was a scrappy game but there was a lot of hype around that we wouldn’t be able to control a game, so it was good to show everybody we feel comfortable together and have a bit of fun," Wighton said.

"I had a full pre-season there and that really helps. I’ve got good players around me and I’ve got some good advice. I’ve done a lot of practice on my kicking game and I think it showed [in round one], so I was happy with the start.

"We’ve got Andrew Bishop in now, he’s our welfare manager but also our kicking coach. We spent numerous hours together over the off-season just working on that. We’ve got a long way to go, don’t worry about that, but he has been great for me.

"You take confidence out of every win. It’s a tight competition as we’ve seen over the past couple of years. Any win is a great win, we’ll take it and run with it, and we’ll move onto the next job now.

"We’ve only got a five-day turnaround. Short turnaround, coming up against a class team, it’ll be a good test."

A clash with Melbourne will pit Wighton in a head-to-head battle with Cameron Munster with the round two clash looming as "a good challenge for us to see where we’re at".

Some harbour concerns about how the Storm can cope having lost Cooper Cronk and Billy Slater in consecutive seasons but they still boast one of the NRL's best forward packs.

There is Cameron Smith at hooker, Jesse Bromwich and Nelson Asofa-Solomona in the front row, Felise Kaufusi and Kenny Bromwich in the second row. All five have played international football.

Melbourne also boast two of the most electrifying wingers in the competition with Suliasi Vunivalu and Josh Addo-Carr lining up on the flanks.

Raiders rookie Bailey Simonsson could line up against NSW Blues winger Addo-Carr in what shapes as one of the former New Zealand sevens rugby player's toughest tests.

Simonsson scored a try on debut - just like his father did for the All Blacks when he scored four tries in a tour game back in 1987 - as he looks to keep Michael Oldfield out of the side whenever he returns from a groin injury.

"Every player likes to test themselves against the best of the best," Simonsson said.

"For me personally too, with Addo-Carr being their left winger, that would be someone I would go up against so I would be really excited to test myself against him and put my best foot forward. He’s definitely a class player and probably one of the form wingers in the competition.

"I’d like to be out there again but that’s up to the coaching staff with who they go for week to week. No matter who we play I’ve just got to keep turning up and keep giving 100 per cent."

NRL ROUND TWO

Friday: Canberra Raiders v Melbourne Storm at Canberra Stadium, 6pm. TV: Live on Fox Sports. Tickets from Ticketek.