BY DAN

Huzzah and good fortune to you all. The Canberra Raiders have confirmed what has long been rumoured: Savelio Tamale will be staying at the club, at least until the end of the 2028 season.

This should be of surprise to no one. The club has been on a tear trying to lock down key parts of its future over this season, beating Perth to the punch like the time difference. Strange, Pattie, Martin and now Tamale have been formalised, with Hosking and Sasagi on expected to be on the way. We’re only really waiting for news on Ata Mariota, but I’m not worried about that.

Within that frame, keeping Tamale has been flagged for weeks now. Existing reporting has all but flagged the deal as done. Tamale has spoken publicly about how much he likes the side, Canberra, and everything about his situation. It seems all we’ve been waiting for is NRLHQ to cross the Ts and dot the lower case Js.

I won’t bore you again with an elongated discussion of how great he is. You’ve got eyes. You know how critical his yardage work has been to Canberra’s success. You know how he’s mixed that with excellent finishing and a clip of pace the Raiders haven’t had in other workhorses (at least not since young Rapana). His ability to break tackles is as good as any in the competition. He led the league in line breaks when his injury hit. Sure, he’s got things to improve in his game – the high ball most notably – but given he’s a dozen games into his first grade career that’s pretty understandable. The Milk are on to a winner.

It’s also structurally an important foundation piece. Most people focus on spines or maybe a key middle forward as the building blocks of a good side. But elite wingers, able to both be attacking and yardage weapons are increasingly important in the modern game. There’s now a synchronicity between yardage work and middle forward dominance. We’ve seen first hand how critical this is for the Milk. A back that can get up the field and win rucks will make the job of middle forwards easier on both sides of the ball, and maintain their output for longer.

It also makes the squad structure clearer going forward. The Raiders are very settled through their back five, and if they can get Bert Hopoate healthy, and turn some of the Cup chargers (like Manaia Waitere) into fringe first graders then they’re sitting pretty. Of course it that’s all predicated on having some proper blue chippers. And from the get go it’s looked like Tamale is on that trajectory.

It’s a safe bet this is just the beginning. Tamale was *this* dominant in NSW Cup last year. He’s equally so in first grade. It all makes it so more confusing that Canberra managed to squirrel him away from St George (because they needed to keep who? Sign Gutho? I’m not sure).

But let’s not question where it’s good work or good fortune that have brought us this bounty. Let’s just be grateful to have it.

Sign up to the mailing list below and I’ll let you be my shadow. Or like the page on Facebook, follow me on BlueSky, or share this on social media. Don’t hesitate to send us feedback (dan@sportress.org) or comment below if you think we are stupid. Or if we’re not.