He is Wiradjuri on his mother's side, and his family are from Peak Hill (Bulgandramine Mission) and Wellington, New South Wales.

Other rugby league players that Wighton is related to include Brent Naden, Willie Tonga, and Latrell Mitchell.

[4] Wighton played his junior football for Orange CYMS and Bloomfield Tigers before being signed by the Canberra Raiders.

[8] On 30 May 2012, Wighton suffered a toe injury in a freak trampoline accident which resulted in him missing most of the year, until he made a return in the semi-final match against the South Sydney Rabbitohs in the Raiders 38–16 loss at ANZ Stadium.

[17] In Round 10 against the Penrith Panthers, Wighton returned to his preferred centre position in the Raiders 26–20 loss at Canberra Stadium.

The hit left Soward unconscious and he had to be assisted off the field on a stretcher during the Raiders 34–18 win at Canberra Stadium.

On 26 September 2015, Wighton played for the Prime Minister's XIII against Papua New Guinea, scoring a try in the 40–12 win in Port Moresby.

[31] On 8 September 2016, Wighton was very lucky to escape a 3-week suspension for a shoulder charge in which he did on Wests Tigers player Joel Edwards in Round 26 in the 52-10 thumping win at Leichhardt Oval.

[38] On 9 July, Wighton was suspended by Canberra for six matches but elected not to terminate his contract regardless of the outcome of the court case hearing.

On 16 June, Wighton was a shock selection at centre replacing Latrell Mitchell for New South Wales for game 2 in Perth.

[43] In round 22, Wighton played his 150th NRL game for Canberra in their 18–22 win over the Melbourne Storm at AAMI park.

[48] Wighton was rewarded for a stellar home and away season by being named joint Meninga Medal winner with Josh Papalii, having finished on atop the voting for the club's player of the year award at a subdued in-house ceremony.

[49] Wighton also took home the Dally M Medal as the NRL's player of the year after polling 26 votes to edge out Clint Gutherson and Nathan Cleary.

Wighton was selected for the 2020 State of Origin series but was played out of position in the centres by New South Wales coach Brad Fittler.

[51] In round 10 of the 2021 NRL season, Wighton was sent to the sin bin after using an illegal cannonball tackle on Canterbury player Adam Elliott during the club's 20–18 victory.

[52] On 30 May, Wighton was selected by New South Wales for game one of the 2021 State of Origin series despite his poor form at club level for Canberra.

[53] Wighton played 21 games for Canberra in the 2021 NRL season which saw the club finish a disappointing 10th place on the table.

[58] On 5 February, it was alleged that Wighton who was out celebrating his 30th birthday became involved in a fight with South Sydney player and Australian teammate Latrell Mitchell.

ACT Police subsequently charged Wighton with fighting in a public place and failing to comply with an exclusion direction.

[2][3] Wighton played his last game for Canberra in their 28-30 extra time elimination final loss to the Newcastle Knights.