Canberra Raiders co-captain Jarrod Croker backs Jack Wighton to All Star

Canberra Raiders co-captain Jarrod Croker is expecting teammate Jack Wighton to put his birthday drama behind him and produce an All Star performance for both his Indigenous community and his NRL club. Wighton's one of four members of the Green Machine who will run out in the NRL All Star game in Rotorua on Saturday, with Joe Tapine, Jordan Rapana and Corey Harawira-Naera suiting up for the Maori All Stars. The 30-year-old will look to put some unwanted headlines from the weekend behind him after he and Indigenous All Stars teammate Latrell Mitchell were arrested in Canberra celebrating his birthday on Saturday night. They both face several charges for allegedly wrestling with each other outside a Canberra nightclub on Sunday at 3.45am. Croker said it wasn't about the the star five-eighth trying to repay the faith the Raiders have shown in him - he'd just want to do his best for the Green Machine and the Indigenous All Stars. "I don't think he has to repay anything, but I know the type of bloke Jacko is," he said on Wednesday. "He'll just want to go out there and put his best foot forward this weekend for the Indigenous side and knowing that he's representing the club as well. "That'll be Jack's mentality and we all know that's what Jack will be wanting to do. "I'm sure we'll see a good performance from him on Saturday night." With the Raiders' first pre-season trial against the Canterbury Bulldogs in Moruya the day after the All Star game, Wighton's first hit out for Canberra will be in their second-and-final trial against the Wests Tigers at Belmore a week later. Instead, Matt Frawley and Brad Schneider will partner each other in the halves in Moruya. Croker will captain the Raiders - his first game back since undergoing a shoulder reconstruction last year. MORE CANBERRA SPORT Despite having played 292 NRL games, he was smiling like a kid in a candy shop on Wednesday talking about the prospect of playing again. It's been a bleak two years for Croker, who's played just 13 games in the past two seasons due to shoulder and knee problems. He still has his sights set on returning to the NRL, needing just eight games to get to 300. That goal starts against the Bulldogs as he teams up with Brad Morkos, who played for Lebanon at the World Cup in England last year, in the centres. Croker said he still had the drive to play at the top level and was happy to talk about his dream of playing 300 games. "I'd rather answer those questions than most people in the street ask if I still play. I've been copping that a fair bit," he laughed. "It'd be a dream, there's no denying that. It's what I want to do. But not many people get to 292. "We'll just take as many as we can and do whatever I can for the club. Whether that's NRL, NSW Cup or whatever it is that's all I'm worried about." NRL PRE-SEASON TRIAL Sunday: Canberra Raiders v Canterbury Bulldogs at Moruya, 3.55pm. Raiders squad: 1. Xavier Savage, 2. Albert Hopoate, 3. Jarrod Croker (c), 4. Brad Morkos, 5. Elijah Anderson, 6. Matt Frawley, 7. Brad Schneider, 8. Ata Mariota, 9. Danny Levi, 10. Emre Guler, 11. Clay Webb, 12. Trey Mooney, 13. Corey Horsburgh; Interchange: 14. Zac Woolford, 15. Pasami Saulo, 16. Jordan Martin, 17. James Schiller, 18. Hohepa Puru, 19. Jed Stuart, 20. Josh Allen, 21. Michael Asomua, 22. Peter Hola, 23. Ethan Strange, 24. Loghan Lewis, 25. Mitchell Spencer, 26. Josh James, 27. Lachlan Lewis, 28. Ray Burns. Bulldogs squad: 1. Braidon Burns, 2. Jacob Kiraz, 3. Jake Averillo, 4. Paul Alamoti, 21. Jayden Okunbor, 6. Josh Reynolds, 7. Kyle Flanagan, 8. Luke Thompson, 9. Reed Mahoney, 10. Max King, 11. Jacob Preston, 12. Raymond Faitala-Mariner, 13. Ryan Sutton; Interchange: 14. Fa'amanu Brown, 15. Chris Patolo, 16. Andrew Davey, 17. Corey Waddell, 19. Jeral Skelton, 20. Jackson Topine, 22. Bailey Hayward, 23. Harrison Edwards, 24. Khaled Rajab, 25. Jayden Tanner, 26. Kurtis Morrin, 27. Blake Wilson, 28. Joash Papalii, 29. Ryan Gray, 30. Franklin Pele. We've made it a whole lot easier for you to have your say. Our new comment platform requires only one log-in to access articles and to join the discussion on The Canberra Times website. Find out how to register so you can enjoy civil, friendly and engaging discussions. See our moderation policy here.