BY DAN

When Savelio Tamale started in round one of 2025 we were hopeful.

Already Canberra’s outside back depth was being tested. Though undoubtedly a talent, Tamale wasn’t meant to start in round one. It was expected that job would go to Albert Hopate. But an unfortunate injury intervened, as it sometimes does, and Tamale got the job on the wing. The rest as they say, is history, or his story, as he took the starting job, became one of the most impactful wingers in the competition, and was indispensable and central to Canberra’s success.

When Tamale got injured, the Raiders again scrambled. Jed Stuart came in; an imperfect solution to a perfect storm. It wasn’t like for like. Stuart could never manage the power or dynamism that Tamale was working with. But he did a job, one that helped keep the Raiders afloat.

Then Xavier Savage got injured, the only downside of the Miracle of Mudgee. The Raiders brought back Tamale, who was ready but clearly under-prepared. He looked slower, less powerful, as he tried to get his body into the action for the last weeks of the season and the finals. For anyone who’s ever come back from a structural injury, the lack of agility, the lack of confidence to move sharply or change direction, would have been familiar.

Canberra didn’t really have another option. Michael Asomua was given time in the Baby Raiders II: Judgement Day, and scored a try, but in a team full of reserve graders he did not distinguish himself. Other outside back depth like Manaia Waitere, or Kain Anderson, was still too green, too risky, to throw into the fire of a season that was getting hot and heavy.

It turned what had been a weapon early in the season into a wooden sword. Yeah, it still vaguely looked right, but when the fighting got tight, the Milk couldn’t use it to dent the oppositions armour. With the problems on the right edge, the Raiders just had to swing and hope that the rest of their strengths would carry the day. They didn’t.

*sigh*

In acquiring Sione Finau the Milk have acquired multi-faceted depth that means they shouldn’t have to tolerate such frustration again. Finau is fast, and he’s willing to work like his good pal Tamale. In the round 18 matchup against the Raiders last season, Finau piled on 217 metres, five tackle breaks and a line break in an attack that almost exclusively targeted the other side of the field. As Tamale told us at the end of ’25, he’s been training at centre and wing, meaning his presence brings flexibility to the entire back five.

There will be a challenge in managing expectations. Expectations will be high, driven by his proximity to Tamale and the tendency we all have to draw straight-line equivalence. It’s not the same and neither is he, no matter how much we want him to be. But you don’t average 150 plus metres in limited first grade outings by accident, and at just 23 the upside is enticing. But more than just being a smart pick up in terms of talent pipeline, Finau will provide the Raiders with greater insurance than they’ve had previously.

That’s good business and good roster management, the difference between hoping your outside backs survive the season and knowing you can keep swinging even when the injuries come. It will mean the weaponry in their outside backs will stay sharp no matter what misfortune befalls them.

And in a league this tight, that kind of insurance isn’t a luxury. It can be the difference between hanging on and success.

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