Canberra Raiders five-eighth Jack Wighton is desperate for State of Origin redemption.
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The NSW utility is hoping he gets a chance to atone for his intercept pass that swung the State of Origin opener at Suncorp Stadium on Wednesday night.
He has the backing of his coach Ricky Stuart, who is confident Wighton will bounce back from his Blues debut when the Raiders take on Wests Tigers at Parramatta Stadium on Friday night.
Queensland hero Dane Gagai sprinted almost the length of the field after reading Wighton's attempted pass to an open Josh Addo-Carr to score a try to give the Maroons a 12-8 lead.
It was a lead they would never surrender.
Blues coach Brad Fittler praised Wighton's debut, but said that pass would haunt the Raiders half.
Wighton has vowed to make amends if Fittler gives him a chance in game two in Perth on June 23.
"I just want to try to make things better and go again," he told Sporting News.
"It was a great experience and everything I expected and more and I'd Iove to do it again.
"That's all I want now - some redemption for me and the boys in Perth."
Wighton vowed he'd continue to back his instincts and was willing to live with the consequences.
"I just couldn't get it into Addo-Carr's hands. It's definitely one I should have held, but I thought I was doing the right thing," he said.
"I saw Gagai's body linger and thought I had [Will] Chambers beat. He read it well and took off last second.
"It was shattering. I went for the big play and backed my instincts and I've got to live with that. But I always back my instincts."
Raiders legend Glenn Lazarus has called on Fittler to give Wighton another chance.
He also urged the five-eighth to not blame himself for the loss, especially given it was his debut - that responsibility lay with the entire NSW team that was poor on Wednesday night.
Lazarus felt Wighton was the perfect utility - given he could cover basically the entire backline, the second row and potentially lock as well - and said the 26-year-old still had plenty to offer the Origin arena.
"If it goes to the intended player, the Blues score and probably win the game. It's just one of those things," he said.
"I'd hate to think that Jack would be blaming himself, but he probably will be. He's that sort of bloke, he would think he's let everybody down.
"But the Blues go into half-time with an 8-0 lead and come out and play a pretty ordinary second half. Jack's not to blame for that.
"He's just improving all the time. He's a big reason why the Raiders are sitting in the top eight.
"I'd hate to think he's punished for that one incident. He can have a big impact if he continues to play."
Stuart said he didn't need to call his playmaker after the game because of the maturity he has developed over the past year.
It's something he would've done in the past because he would've been concerned with how he reacted.
But not this Wighton. He was confident this Wighton would return to the form he's shown over the opening 11 rounds of the NRL since making the switch from fullback.
"Just reading some comments this morning about how you've got to take your opportunity is 100 per cent correct," Stuart said.
"Twelve months ago, 18 months ago, I might've rang Jack to console him because I know how he could be, but I think his maturity will handle those types of situations a lot differently now."
Having less than 48 hours before his next game could help Wighton move on from his Origin pain.
The Wests game gives him the chance to get straight back into it.
"Knowing him as well as I do he'll just want to get back and play for the Raiders," Stuart said.
"When you lose an Origin match all you want to do is get back out there and start playing again, get back on the horse.
"I know that's how they'll both be feeling - Nick [Cotric] and Jack - and [Josh Papalii] will come with his normal enthusiasm and he'll be excited about what occurred [Wednesday] night."
NRL ROUND 13
Friday: Wests Tigers v Canberra Raiders at Western Sydney Stadium, 7.55pm.
Raiders squad: 1. Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, 2. Bailey Simonsson, 3. Jarrod Croker (C), 4. Nick Cotric, 5. Jordan Rapana, 6. Jack Wighton, 7. Sam Williams, 8. Josh Papalii, 9. Siliva Havili, 10. Dunamis Lui, 11. John Bateman, 12. Elliott Whitehead, 13. Joe Tapine. Interchange: 14. Tom Starling, 15. Emre Guler, 16. Sia Soliola, 17. Ryan Sutton. Reserves: 18. Aidan Sezer, 19. Royce Hunt, 20. Michael Oldfield, 21. Sebastian Kris, 22. JJ Collins.
Tigers squad: 1. Moses Mbye, 2. Robert Jennings, 3. Paul Momirovski, 4. Esan Marsters, 5. Corey Thompson, 6. Benji Marshall, 7. Luke Brooks, 8. Ben Matulino, 9. Robbie Farah, 10. Alex Twal, 11. Ryan Matterson, 12. Chris McQueen, 13. Matt Eisenhuth. Interchange: 14. Jacob Liddle, 15. Thomas Mikaele, 16. Josh Aloiai, 17. Michael Chee-Kam. Reserves: 18. David Nofoaluma, 19. Elijah Taylor, 20. Chris Lawrence, 21. Mahe Fonua.