Savage hit as Raiders nab Coast speedster

THE Titans’ nursery is under siege, with the Raiders the latest NRL rival to raid the Gold Coast region after poaching a Palm Beach Currumbin sensation who has similar speed to Storm star Josh Addo-Carr.

In a blow for the Titans, Canberra have swooped on 17year-old speed machine Xavier Savage, a PBC flyer who is one of the fastest teenagers in the country.

Savage won the 100m Queensland junior athletics championships last year in a time of 10.95sec – almost as quick as Addo-Carr, who has been clocked at 10.6sec.

Savage’s highlights reel on YouTube is impressive stuff with the Queensland under-16s fullback or winger torching rivals with his blistering speed.

A former Cairns Brothers junior, Savage helped the Queensland schoolboys to their first national title in 10 years last week, scoring six tries in four games – prompting Canberra to secure him to a two-and-a-half year contract.

Titans culture chief Mal Meninga is determined to stop a talent drain on the Gold Coast and the loss of Savage, who will join the Raiders this summer, is a huge blow.

Ex-Broncos winger and sprint star Denan Kemp spoke of Savage’s talent on his recent Locker Room podcast.

“Xavier is one of the fastest players in the game,” Kemp said. “I ran 10.7 seconds (for 100m) when I was 16 but I was much lighter than this kid.

“If you run 11.2sec or under, you are an incredibly fast footy player.

“The way Savage moves, he has great balance and he looks like a football player, not just a sprinter.

“If this guy stays injury free and is mentally tough, he will definitely play NRL.”