The NRL are set to reject the Canberra Raiders' six-week ban for star fullback Jack Wighton after he pleaded guilty in the ACT Magistrates Court for assault last week.
Wighton told police when questioned about his unprovoked attacks on five men in Civic on February 3 that he didn't remember anything about the night.
Jack Wighton could miss the rest of the NRL season.
Photo: AAP
NRL boss Todd Greenberg has seen CCTV footage of the late-night brawl and he is not satisfied the Raiders' punishment fits the crime.
"I notice Canberra have proposed a six-week ban. We've viewed the footage and in our view it will warrant a stronger action than that, and that will be a discussion we will have directly with the Canberra club over the next couple of days," Greenberg said on Thursday.
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"We made our feelings pretty clear to Canberra. They made a decision. Ultimately the power rests with us to come over the top if we don't think the sanction is high enough.
"I'm not foreshadowing that today. What I am foreshadowing is that there will be a discussion had with Canberra."
The Raiders board met last week to discuss Wighton's immediate playing future and they submitted a six-week suspension to the NRL integrity unit that would see him return to the field this season.
But with eight games left in the regular season it seems likely Wighton may have played his last NRL game this season.
Greenberg said the policy of club-imposed sanctions would remain in place but added the NRL would continue to intervene if they felt it warranted.
"We have always maintained that players at clubs are their employees and they set culture within their clubs," he said.
"To be frank Canberra have done a very good job of that over a long period of time, making hard decisions around players.
"On this occasion we will have a discussion with the club."
Eamonn Tiernan is a sports reporter with The Canberra Times
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