BY DAN

One of the most underrated parts of Canberra’s success, and something that drastically hampered them in the finals, was the health of Savelio Tamale and Xavier Savage.  

It’s not the sexiest take. Wingers generally are, generally, an afterthought in the success of a team. After all, how hard is it to be fast and ran past dudes? Players like Savage are seen like a luxury car. Put ’em space, let them work, profit. But as anyone with eyes will tell you, wingers have become increasingly important as members of the engine room.  

Canberra know this, and their success in 2025 was built on it. Before his injury Savelio Tamale was leading the competition in tackle breaks and line breaks. His season-average 150m per game were useful, not just in their aggregate impact, but also in the rest they afforded others. It freed up Xavier Savage to be the second-bell-cow, rather than the main one. Savage’s metres dropped (137 per game in 2024 to 111 per game in 2025), but his ratio of tackle-breaks per run slightly increased (0.27 busts per run compared to 0.23 busts per run in 2024), suggests that perhaps he was having more impact in less leveraged situations.

It was a good situation for both of them. Tamale doing grunt work alongside Matt Timoko like a young To’o. Savage deployed as the Lamborghini when needed. In combination with Kaeo Weekes it was a perfect balance in the back three. Through the first 13 rounds (before injury struck) it produced 26 per cent of the Raiders total metres, 40 per cent of their line breaks, 38 per cent of the tackle breaks.

But alas injuries did have their impact, first to Tamale and then Savage. Jed Stuart did a stellar job in support, one far better than any of us could have imagined. But 97 metres and 7 tackle breaks across 11 appearances couldn’t match it with the 55 across 21 appearances for Savage, or 90 across 18 that Tamale managed. Stuart just doesn’t have the same impact.

It changed the balance, meaning more was expected from Savage, and more was delivered when Kaeo Weekes went insane against the Knights, the Dragons, and the Panthers. Even with those games where Weekes averaged 307 metres, the total output of the back three dropped to 21 per cent of the metres, just 29 per cent of line breaks and a meagre 25 per cent of tackle breaks.

Full disclosure: I worked those numbers out myself, and it took forever, so I can’t tell you exactly how they stack up league-wide.”. That still may be competitive, and it was good enough for Canberra to continue to succeed. But it fundamentally changed how they played. More was asked of the middle. More was asked of Matt Timoko in yardage. It’s not hard to wonder putting more work on one side of the ball had an impact on the other.

Tamale did eventually return, right when Savage got injured, but he was clearly underdone. He averaged 131m, 3.5 tackle breaks and 0.25 line breaks post injury, compared to 165m, 5.8 tackle breaks and 1.15 line breaks before he went down in round 14. Without Tamale, in concert with Weekes and Savage, busting up the middle early in sets put more stress on other parts of the team. It’s not hard to see how that contributed to the Raiders going from the best second half team in the competition, to a team that conceded five tries across the last quarter of both their finals’ games.

It’s frustrating, but also something to look forward to for next year. A healthy Tamale, supported by Savage and Weekes, will restore balance to the force, allowing the Raiders to better utilise their host of dynamic and flexible middles. Tapine, Papalii and Horse will be fresher at the back of games. Sasagi, Hosking, Mariota and Noah Martin will be coming on to tear into a defence that is already exhausted. The Raiders have even recruited Sione Finau (who had 215m himself against the Milk in his only hitout against them in 2025), which means they better positioned to maintain this foundation should the injury monster come knocking again.

In 2026 Canberra will have a hard time climbing the mountain they were scaling so successfully before. If the Raiders are to shock the rugby league world again in 2026, it’ll start with one of the most balanced and effective back threes in the game.

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