{"id":848485,"date":"2026-08-08T23:12:13","date_gmt":"2026-08-08T23:12:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/848485\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T23:12:13","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T23:12:13","slug":"hell-always-be-my-best-mate-raiders-teammate-braces-for-big-loss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/848485\/","title":{"rendered":"“He’ll always be my best mate”: Raiders teammate braces for big loss"},"content":{"rendered":"

Canberra flyer Xavier Savage<\/a> says he’ll stand fully behind his “best mate” Sebastian Kris<\/a> if the outside back decides to chase a fresh start across the Tasman, even though losing him would sting.<\/p>\n

Fresh reports<\/a> suggest Kris has his sights set on a move to the New Zealand Warriors<\/a>, with the possibility he could walk away from his deal with the Raiders once this season wraps up if terms are finalised.<\/p>\n

Kris is due to be off-contract at the end of the 2027 NRL<\/a> season and would be free to negotiate with rival clubs from November 1.<\/p>\n

The 27-year-old Raiders centre has played 124 games for the Raiders, scoring his 50th try in the NRL<\/a> in round 13 against the North Queensland Cowboys<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Since New Zealand<\/a> joined the competition in 1995, there have been over 20 players that have played for both the Raiders and the Warriors, with Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad<\/a> being the most recent to switch between the clubs.<\/p>\n

The rumours Kris is leaving the Raiders has come at a rocky time in Canberra, who are already bracing for a wave of departures.<\/p>\n

\"NRLCANBERRA, AUSTRALIA – JULY 19: Xavier Savage of the Raiders celebrates scoring a try during the round 20 NRL match between Canberra Raiders and New Zealand Warriors at GIO Stadium, on July 19, 2024, in Canberra, Australia. (Photo by Mark Nolan\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

That exodus was cemented on Thursday when English forward Morgan Smithies<\/a> put pen to paper with the NRL’s 18th team, Perth Bears<\/a> on a three-year guaranteed deal, with options for the fourth and fifth year of the deal and veteran Josh Papali’i<\/a> is playing his final season for the Raiders.<\/p>\n

“Whatever he chooses to do, he’ll always be my best mate. But, it’d be good to have him stay here at the club and always see him every day,” Savage told the media.<\/p>\n

“I know it’s the way that the game rolls these days, and people have to make decisions for themselves and where they’re going to be happiest because your mental health comes first.<\/p>\n

“Whatever he chooses to do, I’ll support him 100 per cent.”<\/p>\n

\"NRLCANBERRA, AUSTRALIA – APRIL 03: Sebastian Kris of the Raiders celebrates scoring a try during the round five NRL match between Canberra Raiders and Cronulla Sharks at GIO Stadium, on April 03, 2025, in Canberra, Australia. (Photo by Mark Nolan\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

For now, Savage’s focus is on the must-win clash against the Newcastle Knights<\/a>, with the stakes increased after losing 42-18 to the Penrith Panthers<\/a> in Round 22.<\/p>\n

If the Raiders miss the finals, they would be the first team to win a minor premiership and be outside the top eight in the following season for the first time in ten years.
In 15 appearances for the Raiders this season, he has scored four tries, made 27 tackle breaks, 7 line breaks, and runs 120 metres per game.<\/p>\n

Sebastian Kris<\/a> will play NSW Cup<\/a> against the Newcastle Knights<\/a> on Sunday afternoon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Canberra flyer Xavier Savage says he’ll stand fully behind his “best mate” Sebastian Kris if the outside back…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":844899,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-848485","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-nrl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/848485","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=848485"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/848485\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/844899"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=848485"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=848485"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=848485"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}