Canberra Raiders rivals South Sydney Rabbitohs confirm interest in Jack Wighton

But it's also a question South Sydney has confirmed their interest in too, emerging as a surprise suitor for star five-eighth Jack Wighton.

The Rabbitohs are reportedly poised to snatch Wighton away from Canberra on a deal worth $1 million less than what the Raiders offered the Dally M Medal winner if the figures are accurate.

In a twist to Wighton's contract saga, the Rabbitohs have reportedly offered Wighton a four-year deal worth $3.4 million to play in the centres.

The Raiders lodged their offer with the NRL earlier this month after offering Wighton the chance to become the club's first million-dollar man on a contract worth $4.4 million over four years.

But Wighton could now sacrifice $1 million because for a chance to win a premiership.

Wighton hoped to have an answer for all involved in the next fortnight as he's almost become the most talked about player in the NRL.

And that talk was taken up by Raiders members who were keen to know about the 30-year-old's future at the Green Machine's members day at their centre of excellence on Wednesday.

One young fan was heard asking Wighton, perhaps put up to by parents who were also keen to find out, what everyone in the NRL wanted to know.

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Even Souths coach Jason Demetriou now has an interest in the answer as he confirmed the club was keen to lure the World Cup winner to Sydney.

But Demetriou downplayed their chances of landing the Dally M and Clive Churchill medallist, given a fair chunk of their salary cap's already taken up by Wighton's good mate Latrell Mitchell.

He said their stars like Mitchell and Damien Cook, might need to take pay cuts to make it happen.

Maybe then they could squeeze Wighton into their star-studded line-up - although that probably wouldn't be at five-eighth given they've got Cody Walker.

"I love Jack and I know he's got a lot of good friends in the club through rep footy," Demetriou said.

"If Cookie's willing to take a pay cut there's probably something we can sit down and have a chat about.

"We'll get all the big earners and see what they're willing to do.

"We'd love to have him here if there was an opportunity to get him here, but we're pretty full on the salary cap as well.

"It's unlikely but we'll see what happens."

Wighton said he couldn't talk about any potential interest from the Rabbitohs and that he would work out where his future lay in the coming weeks.

He's already got a $4.4 million, four-year deal on the table from the Raiders, while the Dolphins have also put their hat in the ring to try and lure him north.

Given all the headlines surrounding not only his decision to test the market, but also his decision to retire from representative football, Wighton was looking forward to retreating out of the limelight.

"We'll know in the next couple of weeks mate, that's for sure," Wighton said.

But Wighton understood all that scrutiny and the pressure that came along with it was a privilege - if he didn't have the coveted job of being a star NRL player then he wouldn't have anything to worry about.

He said it was up to him to handle all the scrutiny and push it aside on game day.

This week he won't have to worry about that, given the Raiders have the bye, but will have it once again when they face the Dolphins at Wagga Wagga Saturday week.

"Pressure's a privilege, you know what I mean," Wighton said.

"It's one of those things that's out of my control. It comes with the game.

"Every game is important to me and means just as much as the one before and all this stuff in the background's just white noise.

"It's part of the process of the steps I'm taking, but I'll be very happy when everyone's got my name out of their mouth."

Wighton said the reason behind his decision to step away from rep footy was he was satisfied with what he'd achieved - having won a World Cup for Australia last year, as well as tasting victory for NSW in State of Origin.

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Raiders co-captain Jarrod Croker said Wighton's decision would only benefit the Green Machine - especially during the Origin period.

It will not only mean Wighton will be available for two extra games when he would otherwise be in Blues camp, but also he'll be taking on teams' weakened by the absence of their Origin stars.

"It's obviously strong for the club. It's more time we get with Jacko really," Croker said.

"He gets more time with his family and the club, and that's what his focuses are.

"Jack just needs to do what's best for his family so we'll follow him 100 per cent."

NRL ROUND NINE

April 29: Canberra Raiders v Redcliffe Dolphins at Wagga Wagga, 3pm.

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