Savage end to NRL debut as Raiders' second-half woes continue in Dragons loss

It threw the 22-20 loss to St George Illawarra at Wollongong on Saturday into turmoil.

Not to mention the Raiders were denied a penalty in the final minute when winger Semi Valemei was forced into touch after being grounded.

The NRL's high-contact crackdown saw Joe Tapine, Mikaele Ravalawa, Jack Bird and Paul Vaughan put on report.

While it continued the Raiders' second-half woes, that's not what this game will be remembered for.

Savage came on at half-time for Sebastian Kris, who failed his head injury assessment during the break.

The 19-year-old Queenslander spent 12 minutes on the field in his debut, before getting hooked after the error was discovered.

While Dragons second-rower Jack Bird was put on report for high contact on Kris, he wasn't given any marching orders.

An NRL spokesperson confirmed Savage should never have been allowed on.

At least Savage will have something unforgettable to tell the grandchildren.

"The rules are clear that an 18th man can only be activated if a player is sin-binned or sent off - or a team has three failed HIAs," an NRL statement said.

"The Raiders incorrectly activated the 18th man at the beginning of the second half.

"The NRL has asked for full reports from the Raiders as well as our staff on duty at the ground to ascertain the circumstances which led to the 18th man being incorrectly activated."

The Raiders failed to take advantage of the gale at their backs in the first half.

It was so strong Dragons halfback Ben Hunt put up a bomb midfield that went 10 metres forward before then going 15m backwards.

Harawira-Naera's emerging as a good try-scoring option in the second row for the Green Machine and he ran a beautiful line to slice through the Dragons defensive line.

It made it tries in back-to-back games for the former New Zealand international.

With the wind at their backs, the Raiders were dominating possession and territory - prop Josh Papalii (160m) was eating metres at will.

Canberra centre Sebastian Kris finished off some nice play to score the Raiders' second.

He was involved in everything in the first half - he should've been involved in the build-up to another try.

The 22-year-old made a nice break, but lost control of the ball in the tackle just metres short of the Dragons' line.

Kris finished the half off getting a head injury assessment after he was poked in the eye by Mikaele Ravalawa and then caught high by Jack Bird.

Bird was put on report for the contact as the NRL crackdown on high contact showed no signs of abating.

But the Raiders didn't take advantage of that dominance and were made to pay late in the first half.

Late inclusion and Dragons prop Billy Burns ran a powerful line to barge over from close range.

The Raiders got some late joy - albeit from a penalty goal from the contact on Kris.

Williams, returning to the club he spent one season at in 2014, put it over - off the inside of the right-hand upright - making it 14-6 at the break.

Given the Raiders' recent run of form in second halves it was a far from convincing margin - especially with the gale they were running into.

And there were flashbacks of Wagga Wagga when Dragons hooker Andrew McCullough kicked a 40-20 off the opening set.

The Raiders looked to have put it to bed though when prop Joe Tapine crashed over - before he was put on report for high contact on Burns.

But then tries to Gerard Beale, Tyrell Sloan, on debut, and Corey Norman put the home side in front - a lead they'd never surrender.

AT A GLANCE

ST GEORGE ILLAWARRA DRAGONS 22 (Billy Burns, Gerard Beale, Tyrell Sloan, Corey Norman tries; Corey Norman 3 goals) bt CANBERRA RAIDERS 20 (Corey Harawira-Naera, Sebastian Kris, Joe Tapine tries; Sam Williams 4 goals) at Wollongong. Referee: Chris Sutton. Crowd: 9239.