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Canterbury captain James Graham has praised Canberra's recruitment of England teammates Josh Hodgson and Elliott Whitehead as the Raiders target more players from Super League for next season.
Graham, the England Test prop, said Hodgson and Whitehead had proved to be good signings for Canberra, while the return of Sia Soliola from St Helens was another astute decision by the Raiders.
"The Raiders have recruited really well, they bought the two English lads over and Sia Soliola, who was playing over there, has been playing really well for them too, so it has been a great job by their recruitment guys," Graham said ahead of Sunday's match at Canberra Stadium.
"Both Hodgy and Elliott have been fantastic buys. They are two really cracking fellows and two lads that just enjoy working hard. I think that has been the cornerstone of their success and why they have been in such good form over here. They are willing to work hard and use their skills on the back of that. Whoever scouted them out deserves a bit of a pat on the back and I think there are probably plenty more over in England who would certainly do a good job here."
Raiders recruitment manager Peter Mulholland was in England for last weekend's Magic Weekend at St James' Park in Newcastle and it is assumed he was assessing whether there was any more Super League talent worth considering for next season.
Canberra have already snared Parramatta forward Junior Paulo, who could join the club as soon as next week, and re-signed both Hodgson and Soliola until the end of the 2018 season.
"I have been fortunate enough to have been in a couple of England camps with them and they are both really good blokes," Graham said. "Hodgy is just a guy from Hull and it is so funny playing against him because I can hear the Hull accent and it brings a smile to my face. Elliott is another one from Bradford. They are both fantastic players."
Graham said the Bulldogs were anticipating a tough match in Canberra after the Raiders sprung an upset at Belmore Oval earlier this season, but had confidence coming off back-to-back wins against Wests Tigers and Sydney Roosters.
"We're not giving ourselves too much of a pat on the back just yet," he said. "There is a lot of improvement in us and I think we all know that. We are under no illusion that we need to play a lot better if we are to get to where we want to be come September time.
"The top four teams [Cronulla, Melbourne, North Queensland and Brisbane] are playing really intense rugby league on a week-to-week basis and I think that is the level you have to get to. I think you can see that those four teams are at the top for a reason."
With prop David Klemmer and second-rower Josh Jackson on NSW duty, Graham said the Bulldogs forwards would have to collectively increase their workload to cover for the loss of the pair, who will be replaced in the starting team by Tim Browne and mid-season recruit Raymond Faitala-Mariner.
Canberra will be without Test back-rower Josh Papalii, who is on the Queensland interchange bench, but welcome back Soliola and lock Shaun Fensom from injury.
