{"id":54211,"date":"2025-07-13T21:52:03","date_gmt":"2025-07-13T21:52:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/?p=54211"},"modified":"2025-07-13T21:52:03","modified_gmt":"2025-07-13T21:52:03","slug":"heres-what-happened-in-nrl-2023-when-jack-wighton-broke-down-in-tears","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/?p=54211","title":{"rendered":"NRL 2023: Jack Wighton breaks down in tears after Canberra Raiders …"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\r\n
\r\n
<\/div><\/div> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Here’s what happened in NRL 2023 when Jack Wighton broke down in tears….<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In late April 2023, shortly after announcing he would leave the Canberra Raiders at season\u2019s end to join the South Sydney Rabbitohs, Jack Wighton delivered a stellar performance in a golden-point victory over the Dolphins (31\u201330) in Wagga Wagga .<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The week had been tough for him, as he faced heavy scrutiny, including racial abuse online over his departure decision .<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

During the post-match interview, Wighton was visibly emotional, saying:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

> \u201cIt\u2019s been a very tough week\u2026 to come to this [game] with the brothers was big\u2026 They\u2019re good boys. I love them al<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The tears weren’t limited to Wighton. Coach Ricky Stuart also broke down emotionally in the post\u2011game press conference, praising Wighton\u2019s contribution and acknowledging the burden he\u2019d carried during the week, even having his press conference cut short as emotions ran high .<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Stuart urged the public to understand that Wighton had been under intense pressure, and emphasized his connection to the club:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

> \u201cWe all love him\u2026 if we weren’t hurt by him going\u2026 we don’t care about him, we don’t care about the club.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Round & result Round 9\u200a\u2013\u202fCanberra beat Dolphins 31\u201130 in golden point<\/p>\n

Emotional moment Wighton cried during field interview post-game<\/p>\n

Catalyst His announced departure after 14 years, scrutiny and abuse<\/p>\n

Coach\u2019s reaction Ricky Stuart also became emotional while defending Wighton<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This remains one of the most poignant moments from the Raiders\u2019 2023 season, highlighting both Wighton’s dedication and the emotional toll of his decision to leave.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Want more detail on his performance in that game, his subsequent career with South Sydney, or how Wighton\u2019s final season with Canberra unfolded? Just let me know!<\/p>\n\n

<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here’s what happened in NRL 2023 when Jack Wighton broke down in tears….   In late April 2023, shortly after announcing he would leave the Canberra Raiders at season\u2019s end to join the South Sydney Rabbitohs, Jack Wighton delivered a stellar performance in a golden-point victory over the Dolphins (31\u201330) in Wagga Wagga . The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":54212,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[722,701],"class_list":["post-54211","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-722","tag-canberra-raiders"],"yoast_head":"\nHere's what happened in NRL 2023 when Jack Wighton broke down in tears....<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Here's what happened in NRL 2023 when Jack Wighton broke down in tears....\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/?p=54211\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Here's what happened in NRL 2023 when Jack Wighton broke down in tears....\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Here's what happened in NRL 2023 when Jack Wighton broke down in tears....\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/?p=54211\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"letsportsrock\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-07-13T21:52:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/r0_236_4983_2898_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"641\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Amos Nabizo\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Amos Nabizo\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.letsportsrock.com\\\/?p=54211#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.letsportsrock.com\\\/?p=54211\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Amos Nabizo\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.letsportsrock.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/044479f72bdbd75f9523e745d3be6c30\"},\"headline\":\"NRL 2023: Jack Wighton breaks down in tears after Canberra Raiders …\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-07-13T21:52:03+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.letsportsrock.com\\\/?p=54211\"},\"wordCount\":308,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.letsportsrock.com\\\/?p=54211#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.letsportsrock.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/07\\\/r0_236_4983_2898_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"1\",\"Canberra Raiders\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.letsportsrock.com\\\/?p=54211#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.letsportsrock.com\\\/?p=54211\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.letsportsrock.com\\\/?p=54211\",\"name\":\"Here's what happened in NRL 2023 when Jack Wighton broke down in tears....\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.letsportsrock.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.letsportsrock.com\\\/?p=54211#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.letsportsrock.com\\\/?p=54211#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.letsportsrock.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/07\\\/r0_236_4983_2898_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-07-13T21:52:03+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.letsportsrock.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/044479f72bdbd75f9523e745d3be6c30\"},\"description\":\"Here's what happened in NRL 2023 when Jack Wighton broke down in tears....\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.letsportsrock.com\\\/?p=54211#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.letsportsrock.com\\\/?p=54211\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.letsportsrock.com\\\/?p=54211#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.letsportsrock.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/07\\\/r0_236_4983_2898_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.letsportsrock.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/07\\\/r0_236_4983_2898_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":641},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.letsportsrock.com\\\/?p=54211#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.letsportsrock.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"NRL 2023: Jack Wighton breaks down in tears after Canberra Raiders …\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.letsportsrock.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.letsportsrock.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"letsportsrock\",\"description\":\"Sport News and Updates\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.letsportsrock.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.letsportsrock.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/044479f72bdbd75f9523e745d3be6c30\",\"name\":\"Amos Nabizo\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/d569857c07d3899c6ca842ffea32daa1672c05549833530fe37e68ae7b521ba4?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/d569857c07d3899c6ca842ffea32daa1672c05549833530fe37e68ae7b521ba4?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/d569857c07d3899c6ca842ffea32daa1672c05549833530fe37e68ae7b521ba4?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Amos Nabizo\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.letsportsrock.com\\\/wp-admin\\\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.letsportsrock.com\\\/?author=15\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Here's what happened in NRL 2023 when Jack Wighton broke down in tears....","description":"Here's what happened in NRL 2023 when Jack Wighton broke down in tears....","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/?p=54211","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Here's what happened in NRL 2023 when Jack Wighton broke down in tears....","og_description":"Here's what happened in NRL 2023 when Jack Wighton broke down in tears....","og_url":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/?p=54211","og_site_name":"letsportsrock","article_published_time":"2025-07-13T21:52:03+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":641,"url":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/r0_236_4983_2898_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Amos Nabizo","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Amos Nabizo","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/?p=54211#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/?p=54211"},"author":{"name":"Amos Nabizo","@id":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/#\/schema\/person\/044479f72bdbd75f9523e745d3be6c30"},"headline":"NRL 2023: Jack Wighton breaks down in tears after Canberra Raiders …","datePublished":"2025-07-13T21:52:03+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/?p=54211"},"wordCount":308,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/?p=54211#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/r0_236_4983_2898_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg","keywords":["1","Canberra Raiders"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/?p=54211#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/?p=54211","url":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/?p=54211","name":"Here's what happened in NRL 2023 when Jack Wighton broke down in tears....","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/?p=54211#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/?p=54211#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/r0_236_4983_2898_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg","datePublished":"2025-07-13T21:52:03+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/#\/schema\/person\/044479f72bdbd75f9523e745d3be6c30"},"description":"Here's what happened in NRL 2023 when Jack Wighton broke down in tears....","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/?p=54211#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/?p=54211"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/?p=54211#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/r0_236_4983_2898_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/r0_236_4983_2898_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg","width":1200,"height":641},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/?p=54211#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"NRL 2023: Jack Wighton breaks down in tears after Canberra Raiders …"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/","name":"letsportsrock","description":"Sport News and Updates","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/#\/schema\/person\/044479f72bdbd75f9523e745d3be6c30","name":"Amos Nabizo","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d569857c07d3899c6ca842ffea32daa1672c05549833530fe37e68ae7b521ba4?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d569857c07d3899c6ca842ffea32daa1672c05549833530fe37e68ae7b521ba4?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d569857c07d3899c6ca842ffea32daa1672c05549833530fe37e68ae7b521ba4?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Amos Nabizo"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/wp-admin\/"],"url":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/?author=15"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/r0_236_4983_2898_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54211","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=54211"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54211\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":54214,"href":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54211\/revisions\/54214"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/54212"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=54211"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=54211"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=54211"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}