Wighton gets the all-star treatment ahead of Kris and Waerea-Hargreaves

The NRL will allow Wighton to serve one game of his suspension during February's All Stars game despite blocking Kris and Jared Waerea-Hargreaves' attempts to do the same.

NRL judiciary chair Geoff Bellew shot down hopes of Kris serving his suspension in the fixture, despite a letter of support from the Indigenous All Stars team confirming the Raider would be picked for the clash against the Maori All Stars at Townsville on February 16.

Now Ricky Stuart will need to fill another hole in his back line for round one after the Raiders learnt on Monday the NRL had denied Kris' application.

Canberra had pushed to have the NRL All Stars game included as the fifth and final game of the ban Kris received for a spear tackle in the final round of the 2023 regular season. The 24-year-old has already missed the Raiders' elimination final loss to Newcastle last year and three Tests during New Zealand's victorious Pacific Championships campaign.

Bellew took into account the likelihood of each player featuring in the All Stars game and their desire to play in the fixture when making a call on each of the three cases.

Kris has never played in the All Stars fixture - he qualifies for the Indigenous side through his father's family hailing from Mabuiag Island in the Torres Strait - though only a shoulder injury kept him out of last year's game.

Waerea-Hargreaves has not played for the Maori All Stars since 2015 - and he will now miss the Roosters' historic season-opener in Las Vegas after Bellew refused to count the pre-season showpiece as part of his seven-game suspension.

The Roosters prop copped a seven-game ban for two separate offences in round 26 last year and, while also having New Zealand's three Tests included, will have to wait until round two to return to the field.

It is understood Bellew was confident Waerea-Hargreaves would have been picked for the Kiwis, but not necessarily certain he would have been picked for the Maori All Stars.

Wighton was able to include the All Stars fixture in the three-match suspension for dangerous contact in Canberra's elimination final loss to Newcastle last year.

The difference in Bellew's view was Wighton would have been a certainty to play in the All Stars fixture, having featured seven times for the Indigenous All Stars, and his desire to be a part of the camp has long been made clear.

While Wighton will miss the Rabbitohs season-opener in Sin City, it sets up an intriguing subplot with his South Sydney debut to come against the Roosters in round three.