DEBUT TURNS INTO FARCE

CANBERRA rookie Xavier Savage has cruelly had his NRL debut ruined after incorrectly being deployed as an 18th man in Saturday’s 22-20 defeat to St George Illawarra.

Savage thought he had realised his first grade dream when he entered the game at the start of the second half at WIN Stadium after Sebastian Kris was ruled out due to concussion.

However, the 19-year-old was sensationally hauled from the field 12 minutes later after officials recognised that it was an illegal substitution.

Under the league’s hastily introduced 18th man rule, teams can only use an extra man should three players fail a head injury assessment.

The emergency interchange can also occur if a player suffers a match-ending injury caused by foul play, in which the opposing player was either sin-binned or sent off.

Kris was ruled out at halftime after copping a knock from Dragons second-rower Jack Bird minutes before the break, resulting in Bird being put on report.

However, Bird was neither binned, nor marched. Nor had two Raiders been concussed.

Canberra players ran to meet Savage, an electric winger who hails from Cairns, when he handed the league’s interchange official the interchange card and stepped onto the field.

He carried the ball for nine metres off his one run, made a tackle, and missed another before being rushed back off the field, still with a smile on his face. It is unclear whether the Raiders will be penalised for the screw-up.

“The Raiders incorrectly activated the 18th man at the beginning of the second half,” an NRL spokesman said.