Jaeman Salmon's sweet 'karma' after Raiders fans sledge Panthers over 'weak-gutted dog' drama

"I just said 'weak-gutted dog'. I think it was pretty obvious. Just a bit of fun," Salmon said of his emotional bark after scoring a try to put the Panthers beyond 50 points.

Salmon said Raiders supporters on Friday night had been reminding him of last year's dramatic Ricky Stuart press conference that led to the coach being fined and suspended one match.

So he fired back.

"It was good karma," Panthers coach Ivan Cleary said. "That's how I'd describe that."

Salmon revealed the Green Machine fans certainly heightened the moment.

"It was good to come on at the end there and get the last try," he said. "I want to perform every week but probably tonight I got a bit more motivation with a couple loud fans.

"The fans added more fuel to it. I haven't thought about it since last year when it happened. Then hearing it again in the crowd makes it come up again, but it's not something I'm worried about."

If the heavy loss to Penrith was a glimpse into life without Jack Wighton, it's a grim outlook should the suspended five-eighth take up a deal with another NRL club.

Captain Elliott Whitehead said Wighton's absence was felt, and after Matt Frawley suffered a broken right hand in the final minutes, Brad Schneider will be up next in the No.6 jersey.

"Jack has a massive influence for us and we did miss him," Whitehead said post-game. "But the first half we stuck to the game plan and the second half we didn't turn up for one another. We've got Brisbane next week and another tough game."

Frawley is expected to be out for six to eight weeks, and Wighton is suspended for one more game.

Wighton's emergence on the open market has NRL clubs falling over themselves for the Raiders star. But Stuart remains quietly confident they can retain him, even after his second-biggest defeat at Canberra since their 68-4 thrashing by the Storm in 2013.

"Honestly I haven't spoken to Jack much about it. I don't need to tell him, he knows I want him here," Stuart told Fox Sports.

"What I'm comfortable with is this club has looked after Jack and his family to no end.

"Jack knows himself he's a Raider, but it's a business decision for Jack. We'll treat it as that but obviously we'd love to have Jack stay."

Corey Horsburgh was again in the thick of a fracas at Canberra Stadium.

He didn't appreciate being heaved over Dylan Edwards' shoulder and clamped down on the fullback's head. Edwards retaliated by sitting on Horsburgh's face.

"There's the rubbish on the head and this is garbage [on the ground]," referee Adam Gee told Whitehead. "We cut it out and get on with it."

Though the 53-12 scoreline might not have reflected it, the Raiders gave themselves every chance of being in the contest with the Panthers, if not for untimely, sloppy errors, poor defence and repeated failure to capitalise on their opportunities given multiple sets inside 20.

A 66 percent completion rate hurt in attack and Canberra's 51 missed tackles to the visitors' 20 was a low-light.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: