Canberra's Sebastian Kris was ruled out at half-time after he was concussed following high contact from St George Illawarra's Jack Bird.<\/p>\n
When the Raiders emerged for the second period, 19-year-old Savage was with them, taking to the field for his dream debut in place of Kris.<\/p>\n
![\"Vaughan](\"https:\/\/vms-network-images-prod.s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com\/2021\/06\/365296\/pickerImage.jpg\")
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The rookie winger was congratulated by his teammates, who ran over to share a hug with the youngster.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
But celebrations would be cut short when Savage was hooked just 11-minutes later, as sheepish Raiders officials scrambled to get him off the field.<\/p>\n
After some confusion it became clear that Canberra had sent Savage out under incorrect interpretation of the 18th<\/sup> man rule.<\/p>\n The 18th man rule can only be activated in the event a player is ruled out as a result of fair play and the offending player is sent to the bin or sent off.<\/p>\n As Bird remained on the field following his shot on Kris, the 18th man was not allowed to be activated.<\/p>\n "A bit of drama down here on the sideline. We saw Xavier Savage go on the field only moments ago, with Sebastian Kris ruled out with a (failed) HIA," Fox League reporter Jake Duke said.<\/p>\n "Xavier Savage has now been pulled off because apparently there's been a mistake with the NRL sideline officials… Savage should not have been allowed to come on because Jack Bird wasn't sin-binned for that high contact, he was just put on report."<\/p>\n It prompted mass confusion over whether Savage's brief feature technically counted as an official debut.<\/p>\n "I'm not sure, if he's on match payments, whether he gets the match payment?" Queensland great Corey Parker said in commentary for Fox Sports.<\/p>\n https:\/\/twitter.com\/ScottBaileyAAP\/status\/1406173002807398403<\/a>https:\/\/twitter.com\/mrchrisnico\/status\/1406172704181395456<\/a>https:\/\/twitter.com\/mattencarnacion\/status\/1406173169271009281<\/a>https:\/\/twitter.com\/BradWalterSport\/status\/1406172924705316867<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n