CANBERRA RAIDERS 40 GOLD COAST TITANS 24
TOM SMITH, GIO Stadium, Sunday
XAVIER SAVAGE claimed the first hat-trick of his NRL career, helping Canberra down Gold Coast in a high-scoring shoot-out.
The Raiders were smarting after tossing away a 20-0 half-time lead against Canterbury the Saturday prior, and took it out by piling eight tries on the Titans – including three to Savage and two to Matthew Timoko down the right edge.
Fullback Kaeo Weekes was also instrumental with a game-high 220 running metres.
Titans stand-off Kieran Foran returned from a biceps injury for his first game of 2025, shuffling AJ Brimson to fullback and Jaylan De Groot to the bench.
And Brimson made an immediate impact by releasing Jojo Fifita for the first try in the fifth minute.
Canberra struck back through Savelio Tamale, who benefitted from Sebastian Kris’ clever bat-back over the dead-ball line, then Timoko and Savage.
The Bunker denied Chris Randall but there was no stopping Josiah Pahulu, although Zac Hosking’s score courtesy of Weekes made it 18-12 at the break.
Savage snaffled a Jamal Fogarty bomb, Hudson Young exploited a Tony Francis error and Timoko linked up with Savage to effectively kill off the contest.
Fifita collected a second and Moeaki Fotuaika barged over from close range, but it was little consolation as Savage’s third from a Tom Starling kick helped the Green Machine bring up the 40.
RAIDERS: 1 Kaeo Weekes, 2 Savelio Tamale, 3 Matthew Timoko, 4 Sebastian Kris, 5 Xavier Savage, 6 Ethan Strange, 7 Jamal Fogarty, 8 Corey Horsburgh, 9 Tom Starling, 10 Joseph Tapine, 11 Hudson Young, 12 Zac Hosking, 13 Morgan Smithies. Subs (all used): 14 Owen Pattie, 15 Simi Sasagi, 16 Josh Papalii, 17 Ata Mariota
Tries: Tamale (13), Timoko (23, 51), Savage (27, 41, 75), Hosking (38), Young (46); Goals: Fogarty 4/8
TITANS: 6 AJ Brimson, 2 Alofiana Khan-Pereira, 4 Jojo Fifita, 18 Tony Francis, 5 Phillip Sami, 14 Kieran Foran, 7 Jayden Campbell, 8 Moeaki Fotuaika, 9 Sam Verrills, 10 Reagan Campbell-Gillard, 12 Beau Fermor, 16 Chris Randall, 13 Tino Fa’asuamaleaui. Subs: 1 Jaylan De Groot, 11 Klese Haas (not used), 15 Jaimin Jolliffe, 17 Josiah Pahulu
Tries: Fifita (5, 59), Pahulu (34), Fotuaika (78); Goals: Campbell 4/4
SCORING SEQUENCE: 0-6, 4-6, 8-6, 12-6, 12-12, 18-12; 24-12, 28-12, 34-12, 34-18, 40-18, 40-24
Rugby Leaguer & League Express Men of the Match
Raiders: Xavier Savage; Titans: Tino Fa’asuamaleaui
Penalty count: 1-6; Half-time: 18-12; Referee: Liam Kennedy; Attendance: 9,650
