Eight weeks ago Canberra Raiders coach Ricky Stuart heard the calls for him to drop fullback Jack Wighton, but he never lost belief and is getting payback in spades, with the 23-year-old producing a brilliant two-try effort to put them on the verge of the top four.
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Canberra sits one point off third spot after it held off a determined North Queensland Cowboys to win 26-12 at Canberra Stadium on Monday.
The Raiders have now won six of their last seven games and Stuart will give them a week off over the bye to rest up and get ready for the round 20 clash against the New Zealand Warriors.
Wighton injected himself into the attack, repeatedly raiding the Cowboys' edges, but he also showed his defensive strength with some thumping, last-man tackles.
He scored the opening try through some individual brilliance two beat a couple of tackles on the left edge and almost scored a replica in the second half to give the Raiders some breathing space when the game was on the line.
The conversion from his first one gave his captain Jarrod Croker his 1300th NRL point.
Stuart praised his young side, which he said was "growing as a football team" and "learning how to win".
"Considering eight weeks ago so many people wanted me to drop Jack, get rid of Jack, people sit back and laugh now and say, 'No that's not the case', but it was and that's what you get when you show a little bit of confidence and patience in a person and belief," Stuart said.
"And he's got that not just with me, he's got that with our whole club and our whole squad. Jack Wighton's different to a lot of other fullbacks and that's why I love Jack Wighton in my team."
