English star John Bateman has revealed he would love Jack Wighton to join him at the Wests Tigers as the club attempt to reverse a decade without a finals appearance.
Bateman, who was Wighton's teammate during his brief stint at the Canberra Raiders, which led to a grand final appearance in 2019, labelled Wighton a "great player" and said he would support the Tigers in their approach to Wighton.
The club's head coach Tim Sheens, who has been open and honest about his previous pursuits in failed attempts to bring Cameron Munster and Mitchell Moses to the Tigers, has denied any approach for Wighton at this stage, who is testing the free agency market for the first time in his career.
The Tigers also made an approach for Mitchell Pearce through assistant coach Benji Marshall, something Tim Sheens failed to deny when quizzed on it in the following days after the story broke.
It's believed Wighton's biggest goal - outside of security on what could be his final contract in the NRL before retirement given his age is now on the wrong side of 30 - is to win a premiership.
That would likely make the Tigers, who have started the season with five straight losses and haven't played in the finals for more than a decade, a less than ideal destination for Wighton, who can negotiate with rival clubs thanks to the final year of his deal at the Raiders in 2024 being an option in his favour.
Speaking to News Corp though, Bateman said that he hasn't talked to Wighton yet, but would want him in the joint venture's squad.
โHe's a great bloke and if he wants to come here, he can feel free to come here," Bateman told the publication.
โThe better players, you'd take them in your squad.
โI haven't spoken to him but he's a very good player.
โI played with him for two years in Canberra, he's a very good player who's gone on to play for NSW and obviously won the World Cup last year."
The comments from Bateman comes as Luke Brooks prepares to settle on his future.
The veteran half, who has played almost 200 games for the Tigers without a single finals appearance and has moved between the number six and seven jumpers in recent times, is off-contract at the end of the season.
The Tigers have refused to publically declare whether they are willing to make Brooks a new offer or not, with the club weighing up their situation throughout the first half of the year, as well as whether they will be able to secure an elite replacement for Brooks or not.
With Moses and Munster now off the market though, it would appear they may have to go all in for Wighton, who is reportedly favoured to remain with the Raiders on a deal that could be worth more than $1 million per season over the next four years.
It's that kind of money that Wayne Bennett and the Dolphins are reportedly prepared to splash Wighton's way as they continue to scan for a marquee signing in the spine ahead of 2024, although Isaiya Katoa and Sean O'Sullivan began life strongly as the club's inaugural halves pairing.
Injuries have now put paid to that, and it could leave the Dolphins wanting to add Wighton to their squad for the overall picture in 2024, with the number of talented halves off-contract at the end of this season dwindling.
