Xavier Savage cut possibly ahead for Canberra Raiders as NRL admit Magic Round errors

If the promise made last week by Canberra Raiders coach Ricky Stuart to Albert Hopoate is true, Savage is likely the man on the chopping block.

Stuart vowed to put Hopoate back in the NRL side for their Saturday night clash in the capital against Parramatta after the winger had to miss Magic Round to attend his sister's wedding.

The Green Machine are currently spoilt for choice with their outside backs, and riding a four-game winning streak, there's little need to change the squad dramatically.

Before he had to omit himself, Hopoate was in excellent form too, which is partly why Stuart wanted him back.

Jarrod Croker and Matt Timoko seemingly have the centres locked up, Jordan Rapana adds experience to the wing and is coming off a double against the Bulldogs, and Sebastian Kris looks to have settled into his role in the No.1 jersey.

That puts Savage in an unlucky position as being the most cuttable, despite a one try, 90-metre performance in Canberra's Friday night victory.

And Savage actually should have had two tries had NRL referee Chris Sutton not incorrectly ruled Jack Wighton to have knocked-on - with his head - before kicking ahead for Savage to scoop and score.

NRL general manager Graham Annesley admitted in his weekly football briefing on Monday the decision was one of two errors that went against Raiders.

"It hits [Wighton] on the forehead, the ball goes forward, and it's not a knock-on," Annesley explained. "The referee was deceived and thought it had come off the hand as he raised it.

"But it didn't and it should have resulted in a try."

The other mistake which denied Emre Guler a try off a Wighton pass deemed forward, was "more difficult" to rule on, according to Annesley.

"It's important to look at Wighton as he releases the ball, and the angle of his arms which is the only thing that determines if it's a forward pass or not," he said.

"You can see why the officials have been fooled because Wighton gets pushed backwards... but we've reached the conclusion that was not a forward pass and it should have also been a try."

Annesley defended his referees amid the errors, and was thankful the tries did not have "a significant impact" on the result, with the Raiders leaving Lang Park with a win.

In addition to working out who gets bounced to make way for Hopoate's return, Stuart also kept a close eye on the performance of bench utility Corey Harawira-Naera over the weekend.

The versatile Raider was dropped to NSW Cup to get more minutes under his belt, so he could potentially come back to the NRL in better condition.

The move promoted Ata Mariota to the bench, who didn't get a single carry but the young prop did make nine tackles, including one that unfortunately resulted in a penalty try.

Harawira-Naera relished the NSW Cup chance making a game-high 40 tackles in 80 minutes, where he scored the game-equalising try in a 14-14 draw.

"You're in a strong position when you've got players pushing each other for spots," Stuart told The Canberra Times.

"That's what you need. It keeps people motivated and gives them a bit of pressure."

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