By Billie Eder and Jack Brady
The Raiders have been dealt a blow ahead of their finals campaign, with winger Xavier Savage ruled out for the rest of the 2025 season.
Scans have revealed Savage fractured his shoulder during the Raiders 20-16 victory against the Panthers on Friday which has been dubbed the ‘Miracle in Mudgee’ after Canberra scored an unbelievable 95th minute try to win in golden point.
Xavier Savage picks up an injury in the first half.Credit: Getty Images
Savage will meet with a surgeon this week to find out the extent of the injury and assess whether he will need surgery; however, Canberra confirmed he was no chance of playing finals football.
The 23-year-old speedster suffered the injury mid-way through the first half after being tackled by Luke Garner, Blaize Talagi and Isaiah Papali’i while bringing the ball back from a kick return.
Savage played the final 16 minutes of the first half following the collision, but failed to return after half-time.
The 23-year-old absence for the rest of the season is a massive blow for the club, who have all but wrapped up the 2025 minor premiership. He has scored 12 tries for the Raiders this season.
The Raiders face the Wests Tigers in Canberra this weekend, before closing out their season against the Dolphins in Redcliffe next week.
‘I’d love to prove people wrong’: Could Josh Addo-Carr make a shock Roos return?
Christian Nicolussi
Josh Addo-Carr had three goals at the start of the year: lose weight, return to the NSW Origin team and reclaim his Kangaroos jersey.
He has dropped from 97kg to 90kg, missed out on playing for the Blues, but is now making a late-season push to get back on Kevin Walters’ Roos radar.
The 30-year-old is an outsider to be on the Kangaroo tour in October and November, but his past achievements in the green and gold (he has scored 13 tries for Australia), his on-field chemistry with potential left centre Latrell Mitchell and experience with likely five-eighth Cameron Munster mean he should be in the conversation.
As he celebrates 200 NRL games on Friday when the Eels try to continue their nuisance value against the finals-bound New Zealand Warriors, Addo-Carr hopes he has not become the forgotten man for the Kangaroos.
Eels teammate Mitchell Moses is also keen to be on the Ashes tour in a squad that will likely include Nathan Cleary, Munster and Tom Dearden.
“I sat down at the start of the year and wrote down some goals, which was losing weight – I’ve done that – another one was to make Origin, and the third one was to make the Kangaroos squad,” Addo-Carr said.
Josh Addo-Carr has been back to his brilliant best at times in 2025.Credit: Getty Images
“You want to represent your family, and when you play for the Kangaroos, it’s the pinnacle. It means you’re one of the best players in the world in your position, and you’re playing with the best in the world. It’s such a great honour.
“I played in England in the World Cup [in 2021], and I haven’t played since. I’d love to be a part of it, as long as I can bring value to the team, on and off the field. It is a long trip over there, so if Kevvie needs me, I’ll put my hand up.
“I’ve got that chemistry with Munster – he’s probably the best player I’ve ever played with. Looking back at the combination we had on that left edge when I was back at the Storm, it’s something I still think about, and he’s a close friend of mine as well. To have an opportunity to play with ‘Trell’ [Mitchell] as well, it would be mad.
“I’d love to prove people wrong. That’s what I want to do.”
Brian To’o and Zac Lomax were the starting wingers for NSW during the State of Origin series, but To’o will play for Samoa. Queensland winger Valentine Holmes is out injured, while Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow and Xavier Coates – arguably the best finisher in the game – remain a chance of playing for Samoa and Papua New Guinea respectively.
Canterbury’s Jacob Kiraz, Roosters flyer Mark Nawaqanitawase and even Manly’s Tom Trbojevic would all be in the mix for a place on the wing.
Addo-Carr was thrown a lifeline by Parramatta after parting ways with Canterbury last year. The Bulldogs ripped up the final year of his $500,000-a-season contract after he returned a positive result to cocaine at a roadside police drugs test in September.
Moses is also keen to book a ticket to England. The Eels skipper was at his attacking best in the shock win over the Roosters on the weekend.
“I played last year; it’s the highest honour you can get – we took out the Pacific Champs – and to play with the best in the game, and rub shoulders with them, and take little things out of their game, it only helps my game,” Moses said. “Any time you get into those camps, it’s the best ever. To pull on the Australian jersey, there’s no better feeling.”
Dark horses: Broncos blitz Knights to mount top-four push
Brisbane coach Michael Maguire has refused to be drawn into the growing influence of Reece Walsh following the fullback’s starring role in the Broncos’ 46-12 win over Newcastle.
A six-try second half performance led by Walsh confirmed Brisbane’s place in the NRL finals, as they distanced themselves from the logjam of teams in the middle of the competition ladder with Sunday’s victory at McDonald Jones Stadium.
Walsh overcame several early errors to help Brisbane kick away late, finishing the game with two try assists, 12 tackle breaks and a silky 70-metre solo try to confirm the result.
With Brisbane well and truly in the fight for a potential top-four berth heading into the final fortnight of the regular season, Maguire restricted his praise to the team as a whole.
“Reece makes up a part of the team that builds up the success that we have, and I’d rather talk about how the team is performing,” Maguire said.
“We’re really focused on building who we are. I’ve seen a shift in how the players have gone about what they’re doing and it’s a credit to them for stepping up to a level that I believe we need to get to. It was a bit clunky at times, but it was pleasing to get through the end of the game with the opportunities they did.”
Reece Walsh makes a break for the Broncos.Credit: Getty Images
With the game in the balance at 20-12 into the final 20 minutes, a likely try to Newcastle five-eighth Jake Arthur was butchered and proved the impetus for a flood of Broncos points.
Payne Haas had the ball rolling soon after, before Walsh’s long-range effort put the game beyond doubt.
On a day that their opposition typically fear playing in, Newcastle’s Old Boys’ Day proved to be forgettable for the Knights with tries to Gehamat Shibasaki, Jordan Riki and a second for Deine Mariner coming in the final 10 minutes.
Newcastle’s seventh straight loss – and their 10th defeat in their last 11 home games – has ensured they remain in the battle to avoid the dreaded wooden spoon.
“The last couple of weeks has tested us, clearly. But they have pride in the jersey,” Newcastle coach Adam O’Brien said. “Nobody feels the losses more than the playing group. Losing weighs heavily on them. They love playing for their club and their teammates, and they’ll want to go out and perform.
“Some people won’t see it that way given the scoreline … but these times won’t last so long as we maintain that desire to perform.”
In his 350th NRL game – where he joined Canterbury legend Terry Lamb and long-time Queensland Origin teammate Daly Cherry-Evans as the fourth-most capped player in Australian rugby league history – veteran playmaker Ben Hunt orchestrated an early flurry for Brisbane.
Three minutes was all it took for them to score, with Hunt providing a timely offload for his centre Kotoni Staggs to crash over.
The visitors doubled down five minutes later when Josiah Karapani iced a long range shift out wide that started from the hands of the milestone man yet again.
Walsh made his first mark on proceedings in the 27th minute when he put back-rower Jaiyden Hunt in the clear, before finishing the play by donating Kobe Hetherington a four-pointer in his 100th game.
Leo Thompson provided Newcastle some solace into halftime when he cleaned up a tidy Phoenix Crossland grubber to score his side’s first, but it would ultimately be in vain as Brisbane ran away with the game come the second half.
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