He returns to the scene of his "not debut" for the first time with the Raiders taking on the St George Illawarra Dragons at a wet and windy Wollongong on Sunday.

Savage was famously brought on at half-time as an 18^th man, concussion substitute for Sebastian Kris only for officials to realise he shouldn't have been allowed on 11 minutes later.

Off he came and one of the more memorable debuts was over. Even if it didn't officially count as one for his NRL career.

He'd even flown his mother Erica and his sister Jaydah down from Queensland as he had a feeling something was going to happen. He got that right.

Savage had to wait almost three weeks to finally make his debut - when he started at fullback in a win over Manly at Brookvale.

"We had a laugh about it two days ago," Raiders coach Ricky Stuart said.

"I was told at half-time that we could use him and then Sebby Kris was OK to go back on.

"Then as he went to go back on he said he was no good with his eye so I automatically just threw Xavier on.

"I didn't think I did anything wrong until six or seven minutes into the [half] and they said he was not eligible.

"The loss didn't hurt as much then because they would've taken the points off us anyhow."

Savage's gone on to play 11 NRL games since then, six of them starting at fullback, and scored four tries along the way.

The 20-year-old has shown how exciting a prospect he is, with his electric pace able to create something out of nothing, but also that he's still not the finished product.

When he is, the Green Machine will be an excitement machine.

Stuart likened him to a young Ryan Papenhuyzen or Scott Drinkwater - talents that needed NRL games to develop.

Savage has had that this season, with Raiders regular fullback Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad missing the past four games due a hamstring injury.

"He's come a long way. The only way you can develop a young player in first grade is by playing them," Stuart said.

"He's done all the development work he needs to do from a training point of view.

"He's still got a lot of learning to do as a fullback. It's one of the toughest positions on the field - especially from a defensive point of view. You're very influential in the attack.

"You've only got to have a look at some of these guys who have been in Xavier's position before.

"Ryan Papenhuyzen's a great example. He was in exactly the same position as Xavier - [Melbourne coach Craig Bellamy] was using him as a lock for some games.

"Drinkwater's another guy. He was once a young boy like Xavier who had to learn his trade and that's where Xavier's at.

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"We're just doing everything to fast-track his development. He's certainly got the skill and ability - it's just a matter of getting the experience."

Raiders winger Jordan Rapana praised the job Savage's done over the past 13 months and said consistency was now the key for the young fullback.

Looking back at his "not debut", Rapana said he'd done a job for the Raiders regardless of whether it counted or not.

Now Nicoll-Klokstad's back in the mix and has been named on the bench.

Stuart doesn't have a pre-determined plan of when he'll bring Nicoll-Klokstad on - instead letting the game decide.

Rapana put his hand up to have a rest at the back end of the game.

"Ideally you want to try and keep all your backs injury free and healthy," he said.

"It's good to have a back-up there and Charnze is a world-class fullback too.

"We've seen him play for the Kiwis - he can carve up in the centres and I played Cook Islands with him on the wing.

"He's very versatile and, touch wood, everyone stays injury free. But whether Stick brings him on against a tired defence to bring a bit of spark - I'm not too sure what Stick's going to do.

"He's been training at fullback and I'm happy to put my hand up and have him jump in for me and rest my old legs too."

NRL ROUND 16

Sunday: St George Illawarra Dragons v Canberra Raiders at Wollongong, 4pm.

Raiders squad: 1. Xavier Savage, 2. Nick Cotric, 3. Matt Timoko, 4. Sebastian Kris, 5. Jordan Rapana, 6. Jack Wighton, 7. Jamal Fogarty, 8. Josh Papalii, 9. Zac Woolford, 10. Joe Tapine, 11. Hudson Young, 12. Elliott Whitehead (c), 13. Adam Elliott. Interchange: 14. Tom Starling, 15. Ryan Sutton, 16. Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, 17. Corey Horsburgh. Reserves: 18. Matt Frawley, 20. Trey Mooney.

Dragons squad: 1. Cody Ramsey, 2. Mat Feagai, 3. Moses Suli, 4. Zac Lomax, 5. Mikaele Ravalawa, 6. Talatau Amone, 7. Ben Hunt (c), 8. Jack de Belin, 9. Andrew McCullough, 10. Blake Lawrie, 11. Jack Bird, 12. Jayden Su'a, 13.Tariq Sims. Interchange: 14. Moses Mbye, 15. Frances Molo. 16. Aaron Woods, 17. Michael Molo. Reserves: 20. Jayden Sullivan, 21. Jaiyden Hunt.

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