sport, raiders, canberra raiders, raiders, nrl, penrith panthers, panthers, josh hodgson

Cameron Munster might've started it, but Josh Hodgson has perfected it. So much so he's had twice as many one-on-one strips as anyone else in the NRL. The Canberra Times can reveal NRL Stats show Hodgson has eight strips so far this season, with Munster second with four. As a team, the Raiders lead the competition with 17 - the Melbourne Storm their nearest rival with nine and then four teams have five. It shows the Raiders have managed to turn their focus on defence into an attacking weapon. Munster was the first to take advantage of this year's rule change, which means it doesn't matter how many tacklers there are at the start provided there's only one when the strip is made. But Hodgson has perfected it. So much so, he's had two in each of his past two games - against Wests Tigers and St George Illawarra. The Raiders co-captain said he made a call to let his teammates know when he had a grip on the ball and they should drop off the tackle. Hodgson revealed it was something they started working on with the Raiders' previous wrestling coach. "We did a fair bit with our wrestle coach who was here earlier in the year, Steve Babic. We did a fair bit with him, just working on it," he said. "When you feel like you've got it, just a bit of a call to get it. It's just happened that way. It's just presented itself the last couple of weeks. "It can be a big momentum swinger in games so if you get the chance it's a good one to take." MORE RAIDERS NEWS So what is the call? Cattledog? Cool bananas? Chiko roll? Black pudding? The Raiders' pick pocket was remaining tight lipped so his unsuspecting victims don't cotton on. "Nah, nah, I'll leave that one in the back pocket mate," Hodgson said. While defence has been the Raiders' focus this season, Hodgson said they needed to be more consistent in attack. The Raiders have always been one of the highest scoring teams in the NRL, but they've revamped their defence to become the second most miserly in the competition - behind the Melbourne Storm. Hodgson said they struggled at times when they had the ball in the win over the Tigers, whereas they were clinical in dispatching St George Illawarra the week before. But he said it was a good sign that they were able to win even when not playing at their best - especially when they were up against a red-hot Penrith Panthers. The Panthers have won seven in a row and have won four of their past five games against the Green Machine. That one was a comprehensive 30-12 Raiders win in Wagga Wagga earlier in the season. "We've still got to be more consistent with the ball," Hodgson said. "It was pretty good [against the Dragons], it was pretty clinical, but I thought at times it was a little bit lapse [against the Tigers] in a few areas. "It's nice to be able to look at things when you're winning that you need to fix up, but it's not always going to go that way. "We've got a tough game against the Panthers, who are seven from seven. "It's always a tough encounter against them and I'm looking forward to it." It's not just a tough game against the Panthers - it's a tough month for the fourth-placed Green Machine. They'll stay in Sydney on Sunday night and then fly to New Zealand to face the Warriors in Auckland. After that they host the third-placed Sydney Roosters before travelling to Melbourne to take on the Storm. While Hodgson said they were working on consistency with the ball, they'll also be looking to maintain the effort that's been a backbone of their defence. "Effort wins you games. You can have all the game plans in the world, all the structure in the world, effort wins you games," Hodgson said. "We've got to make sure we keep backing up and keep working on that consistency. "We've got a tough run coming up. We've got Penrith and the Warriors, Roosters and Melbourne." NRL ROUND 19 Sunday: Penrith Panthers v Canberra Raiders at Panthers Stadium, 4.05pm. Raiders squad: 1. Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, 2. Bailey Simonsson, 3. Jarrod Croker (c), 4. Michael Oldfield, 5. Jordan Rapana, 6. Jack Wighton, 7. Aidan Sezer, 8. Josh Papalii, 9. Josh Hodgson (c), 10. Sia Soliola, 11. John Bateman, 12. Elliott Whitehead, 13. Joe Tapine. Interchange: 14. Siliva Havili, 15. Emre Guler, 16. Corey Horsburgh, 17. Dunamis Lui, 18. Sam Williams, 20. Sebastian Kris. Panthers squad: 1. Dylan Edwards, 2. Josh Mansour, 3. Dean Whare, 4. Brent Naden, 5. Brian To'o, 6. James Maloney, 7. Nathan Cleary, 8. James Tamou, 9. Mitchell Kenny, 10. James Fisher-Harris, 13. Isaah Yeo, 12. Frank Winterstein, 21. Liam Martin. Interchange: 14. Wayden Egan, 15. Jahrome Luai, 16. Moses Leota, 17. Reagan Campbell-Gillard, 18. Jed Cartwright, 20. Stephen Crichton.

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