Canberra Raiders' Xavier Savage looking to turn pressure into NRL finals diamonds

A win against Wests Tigers at Leichhardt Oval on Sunday and he'll be preparing for the first finals campaign of his young career.

The 20-year-old has emerged as one of the best young fullbacks in the NRL this season and has started to become an important cog in the Green Machine's attack.

He seems equally at ease popping up on either edge - as he does sniffing around the ruck in the middle with the big boppers.

As a sign of how high up the fullback pecking order he's climbed, Savage was fifth in the league for kick-return metres (992) - despite having only started 11 games at fullback this season.

He also felt he'd grown mentally as well and pressure was now something he handled well, with the Raiders basically playing for their finals lives the past seven weeks.

That wouldn't have been the case 12 months ago when he'd played just a couple of NRL games.

"I get nervous preparing for these big games coming up, but I kind of like the pressure," Savage said.

"I like the nerves, they're good for me and I feel like I'm at that stage now where I'm handling it pretty well.

"Twelve months ago I would've been doubting myself just where my mental toughness was, but 12 months later I'm pretty happy with where I am."

Raiders centre Sebastian Kris was in a similar situation to Savage - he hasn't experienced finals yet either after missing the 2020 season.

He's stepped up in the absence of Canberra co-captain Jarrod Croker (shoulder) to lead the Green Machine for tries with 13.

Kris has formed part of the Raiders' potent left edge, along with Hudson Young (11 tries), Jack Wighton and Nick Cotric.

The 23-year-old felt having Wighton and halfback Jamal Fogarty starting to form a combination in the halves gave him a platform to run off.

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Kris expected Cotric to return after missing last week's thrashing of Manly due to a groin injury.

"I take a lot of confidence out of knowing who I've got either side of me and knowing they've got my back with whatever I do," Kris said.

"We've been playing a few weeks now with the same halves so I do feel like we're coming into ourselves now.

"We've got Jamal there and he's great in steering the ship.

"And Jack's more of a lethal weapon. It's good for me running off the back of those two."

NRL ROUND 25

Sunday: Canberra Raiders v Wests Tigers at Leichhardt Oval, 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. Emre Guler, 16. Corey Horsburgh, 17. Corey Harawira-Naera. Reserves: 18. Albert Hopoate, 19. Ata Mariota, 20. Matt Frawley, 21. Peter Hola, 22. Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad.

Tigers squad: 1. Daine Laurie, 2. Brent Naden, 3. Starford To'a, 4. Luke Garner, 5. Ken Maumalo, 6. Adam Doueihi, 7. Jock Madden, 8. James Tamou, 9. Jake Simpkin, 10. Joe Ofahengaue, 11. Thomas Freebairn, 12. Kelma Tuilagi, 13. Fa'amanu Brown. Interchange: 14. Fonua Pole, 15. Zane Musgrove, 16. Tyrone Peachey, 17. Austin Dias. Reserves: 18. Jacob Liddle, 19. Junior Pauga, 20. James Roberts, 21. Henry O'Kane, 22. Brandon Mansfield.

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