Jack Wighton is adamant the only way Canberra will put an end to their losing streak is to get their discipline right and fast.
With his team down by 12 points and time running out, Wighton powered across the line twice in the closing stages against Souths on Thursday, only to have both tries ruled out for obsruction.
Coach Ricky Stuart expressed his frustration after the game with the two 'no try' calls but the NRL has backed the decisions, while Stuart was also angered by the lopsided penalty count against his side.
Wighton said the played need to take responsibility for their ill-discipline at inopportune times.
“We’re hurting ourselves in a lot of ways and we can really feel it, we’re holding them inside our 30 and then last-tackle penalties,” he said.
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“We’re giving them away, it’s something we can fix and something we can control.
“But we’ve got to change it soon because we’re letting too many wins slip away."
Losing your halves partner minutes before kick-off is hardly the ideal preparation for a crucial game, but for Wighton, all he saw was an opportunity to show more leadership.
"It felt really good, took control of the game and I knew where everything was going and it was probably the best game I have played this season," Wighton said.
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"I’m finding my lungs, which took me a long time, even individually I am just trying to get my fundamentals right and I think I am on the way to [achieving] that.”
Halfback Williams appeared to walk out of the GIO stadium without too much discomfort and Raiders officials are hopeful he will make next Saturday's trip to Wagga to play Newcastle.
If the classy English halfback fails to overcome his hamstring strain, Wighton is confident the Green Machine can still click into gear.
“Sammy (Williams) is a little general and he runs the ruck well and I have played with him before,” he said.
“Frawls (Matt Frawley) he’s second to none and he’s been training really well so we’ve got players to fill the space if we need to but hopefully Georgie’s aright.”
Wighton has been averaging 299.2 kicking metres per game in 2021 but with Williams sidelined he took charge of all the Raiders' kicking and totalled 548 metres.
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He laid on a try for Seb Kris with a grubber kick and launched several spiral bombs which proved a nightmare for Souths' stand-in fullack Cody Walker.
“Losing Georgie we lost another kicking option but I was sticking to the process and putting them (Souths) down there,” Wighton said.
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