Breaking down the NRL's salary cap as Jack Wighton prepares to leave Canberra Raiders for Rabbitohs

The first thing the NRL wants you to know is we're not comparing apples with apples.

The former Dally M and Clive Churchill medal winner will move to South Sydney to play centre on a deal expected to be worth about $800,000 per year, knocking back an offer of $1.1 million per year to play five-eighth at the Canberra Raiders. Wighton turned down another $1 million per year to play under Wayne Bennett at the Dolphins along the way.

But surely the Rabbitohs can't just take our five-eighth on massive unders? There has to be something more sinister at play, they say.

The NRL's playing contract and remuneration rules allow clubs to put a value on a player in the salary cap if they believe there is enough evidence to do so.

MORE WIGHTON NEWS:

Within those rules rests a reasonability check, which takes into account the value of similar players based on position, representative experience and the like.

Wighton had three offers on the table. Two would fetch a ballpark figure of $1 million per year and the other would see him earn about $800,000 a season. Based on figures alone, his market value would be closer to $1 million, but his positional switch means he wouldn't be earning that same kind of sum while playing centre.

Some would argue $1.1 million per season for Wighton would mean the Raiders were paying overs anyway.

The reality is, some clubs have to pay more than their rivals to recruit and retain talent. You can guarantee the Wests Tigers will be paying overs for some players in the next 12 months. The Rabbitohs, on the other hand, have reached the preliminary final five years running, and they hope Wighton can edge them closer to a breakthrough title.

"Jack Wighton is one of the elite players in our competition and it is wonderful to be able to add him to our squad for the following four seasons," Rabbitohs head of football Mark Ellison said.

"He has shown both at the Raiders and in representative teams that he can excel at any level. In our discussions with him over the past few weeks, and in his performances on the field over the past decade, he has shown that he will add great value to our team on the park and to our club off the field.

"He was also very impressed by the facilities at our new training base at the Rabbitohs Centre in Maroubra and he feels as though he can help us achieve our collective goal of more premiership success for this club."

Swings around roundabouts, hey.

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.