Talking points: Is Jack Wighton jumping into a case of the NSW Origin Blues?

He certainly was head and shoulders above the NSW Blues' incumbent halves James Maloney and Nathan Cleary in Wagga Wagga and he has a bit of utility value about him as well.

Former Penrith supremo Phil Gould has already said he'd be perfect as a left centre.

But he could be a utility given he can play five-eighth, fullback, wing and given his size could handle the middle as well.

Raiders coach Ricky Stuart has been holding him back, but now he's starting to unleash the beast - a kicking, running and tackling machine.

"The thing that impresses me with Jack is just keeps asking me for more," Stuart said.

"In the first five or six rounds I was holding him back and not giving him anything, just wanted him to think about the little things in his game.

"Jack's handling five-eighth, the transition into the halves role as good as I've seen anybody come from an outside back.

"We spoke about Darren Lockyer's transition into the halves was very fluent because he's a skilful, talented player. So is Jack. The big thing Jack's got is he's a very, very strong defender."

Death, taxes and Michael Oldfield scores for the Raiders.

Oldfield was a late call up for Joey Leilua, who woke up on the morning of his 200^th NRL game with a sore neck and was forced to watch from the stands.

As usual, Oldfield was the consummate professional and slotted straight into the centres. He also showed his versatility by going back to fullback when Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad was sent to the sin bin.

While he's had minimal chances during his three seasons in Canberra, he's scored almost every time he has. His opener was his eighth try in his 10th game for the Green Machine.

"Oldfield, who's a very experienced campaigner did a really good job today filling in knowing he's only going to be starting today," Stuart said. "It's a big lesson for young blokes who come away ... you've got to prepare to play whether you're 18^th or 19^th man and it was really handy that Michael did because he played well."