Xavier Savage not Canberra Raiders' saviour: Ricky Stuart

Raiders coach Ricky Stuart has taken the pressure off the young outside back as he returns to the NRL off the bench.

Stuart said there were several roles the 19-year-old could fill against the North Queensland Cowboys at Canberra Stadium on Thursday night.

There's injury cover in the outside backs - with the Green Machine repeatedly losing them to injury, including head injury assessments, so far this season.

They lost centre Matt Timoko (back) after half-time last weekend - although Timoko got through Wednesday's captain's run and was expected to play against the Cowboys.

If not, Stuart has co-captain Jarrod Croker and Sebastian Kris to call on.

But there's also a roaming role through the middle that other up-and-coming fullbacks have performed in the past - like Melbourne Storm custodian Ryan Papenhuyzen.

Stuart said he would love it if Savage has a similar impact, but wasn't putting any unnecessary pressure on the two-gamer.

"Yes, Xavier's very much a talent. But as a fullback, as a winger, it's a big job. Fullback's one of the hardest positions on the field and I could've thrown Xavier on the bench at the start of the year, [but] I felt he needed games," Stuart said.

"He hasn't had a lot of football over the last two years [due to the pandemic] and I'm not expecting as much as everybody else is from Xavier.

"I'm putting no pressure on Xavier at all. He knows that and he trusts me. And I trust Xavier.

"We've had a plan to get him into NSW Cup to play 40-80 minutes each week, get some football under his belt before he has to come in and be on the bench for the NRL team. He needed that."

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Stuart was wary of expecting too much of his young gun and wanted to make sure he became a long-term NRL player.

Savage has played just two NRL games - three if you count his NRL debut where he was brought on as an illegal substitute against St George Illawarra last year.

The Queenslander's been biding his time in the NSW Cup, but has been brought onto the bench for his first crack at the NRL this year.

"There's different options. He's a talent. It's not a matter of throwing Xavier on the field and he's going to save the day for the boys," Stuart said.

"It's a matter of throwing him on at a time of the game we can help Xavier. He's played three games.

"One thing I like about Xavier is he's not letting all the hype get to him because I know hype has killed a lot of young kids and I won't let that happen to Xavier.

"I'll make sure I protect him."

The Raiders have been their own worst enemy this season, with back-to-back losses dropping them to 13^th on the NRL ladder.

They've completed at just 69 per cent - the worst in the NRL - they've run for the fewest metres in the competition (7150m) and had the least kick metres (1875m).

That's all down to their inability to hold onto the ball and has seen them concede the second most amount of points (122).

In a sign of what the team was capable of if they do manage to keep the ball they're equal second for tackle busts (167) and lead the NRL for offloads (76) - although the latter has been part of the problem with poorly timed offloads turning over the football.

Raiders enforcer Josh Papalii was critical of his own form during the week, with the powerful prop's run metres down this season.

But Stuart dismissed the notion, pointing to that lack of ball security as the problem rather than Papalii's form.

"Papa's in fine form. He'll be in better form if we complete better with the football and give ourselves an even chance," he said.

"I get sick of saying it and you guys are going to get sick of hearing it.

"Our statistics with the football are not giving us any opportunity to show who we are."

Stuart was surprised with how quickly Timoko had recovered and admitted he feared the Cowboys game would come too soon.

"I wasn't expecting Matty to play this week, but he's really bounced back very quickly - a lot quicker than I thought," he said.

NRL ROUND SIX

Thursday: Canberra Raiders v North Queensland Cowboys at Canberra Stadium, 7.50pm.

Raiders squad: 1. Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, 2. Nick Cotric, 3. Matt Timoko, 4. Semi Valemei, 5. Jordan Rapana, 6. Jack Wighton, 7. Brad Schneider, 8. Josh Papalii, 9. Tom Starling, 10. Joe Tapine, 11. Corey Harawira-Naera, 12. Elliott Whitehead (c), 13. Ryan Sutton. Interchange: 14. Xavier Savage, 15. Emre Guler, 16. Adam Elliott, 17. Corey Horsburgh. Reserves: 18. Sebastian Kris, 19. Hudson Young, 20. Matt Frawley, 21. Albert Hopoate, 22. Jarrod Croker, 23. Trey Mooney, 24. Peter Hola.

Cowboys squad: 1. Scott Drinkwater, 2. Kyle Feldt, 3. Valentine Holmes, 4. Peta Hiku, 5. Murray Taulagi, 6. Tom Dearden, 7. Chad Townsend, 8. Jordan McLean, 9. Reece Robson, 10. Coen Hess, 11. Tom Gilbert, 12. Jeremiah Nanai, 13. Jason Taumalolo. Interchange: 14. Jake Granville, 15. Heilum Luki, 16. Reuben Cotter, 17. Connelly Lemuelu. Reserves: 18. Emry Pere, 19. Brendan Elliot, 20. Riley Price, 21. Daejarn Asi, 22. Ben Condon, 23. Ben Hampton, 24. Tomas Chester.