Canberra Raiders star Jack Wighton has been revealed as the club's stand in captain, with Elliott Whitehead to miss Sunday's clash with the Penrith Panthers.
While Whitehead is co-captain with Jarrod Croker in the nation's capital, the centre hasn't been included in the team thus far in 2022 as he continues to recover from injury - while Whitehead has been ruled out after a head knock at training requiring plastic surgery and dental work during the week.
Wighton, who is a New South Wales representative and played for Australia during 2019, recently brought up his 200th game in the NRL - all for the Raiders - and is highly-regarded by coach Ricky Stuart.
According to The Canberra Times, Stuart announced Wighton as captain at training on Thursday.
"Jack Wighton will lead the team and he's very proud to," Stuart told the publication.
"I mentioned that [Thursday] in our team meeting and he was very honoured - he spoke to the players and mentioned how honoured and privileged he was to be able to lead them out.
"He'll be a great captain for us ... the boys all respond to Jack. He plays with that 'follow me' style.
"What I've been impressed with is the way he presents and talks in our meetings, with our Club 82 [leadership group], our team reviews and previews.
"Jack's very knowledgeable about his football and his development as a leader has been a great addition to his personality."
The Raiders have gotten the 2022 season off to what can only be described as a horror start, and have lost three on the trot heading into Sunday's clash with the defending premiers.
Their last three losses, to the Manly Sea Eagles, Melbourne Storm and North Queensland Cowboys, have left the club with just two victories from their first six - and sitting perilously close to the bottom four.
It was another second-half fade-out against the Cowboys last Thursday which led Stuart to call his team "pathetic" in the post-match press conference, with Wighton telling the publication that the real issue with the club is lapses in concentration rather than anything to do with the structure of how they are playing the game.
"There's errors in defence and attack ... The restructure of the way we're trying to play is not the problem," Wighton said.
"It's just mental lapses and [not] playing for 80 minutes. We can do it beautifully for 40 minutes and then we drop the bundle for 15-20 minutes, we let ourselves out of the game and that's what's hurting is.
"It's not the way we're trying to attack. It's just our concentration in every second of the game."
The Raiders take on the Panthers away from home on Sunday, with kick-off scheduled for 4:05pm (AEST).
It's anticipated Hudson Young will come straight into the side as he returns from injury in the second row to replace Whitehead, who is now in a race against time to be fit for Round 8.
