The Canberra Raiders have signed Tongan international Salivi Havili on a one-year deal for the 2018 season.

Havili was an instrumental part of the recent Tongan World Cup campaign, as the Tongans progressed to the Semi-Final stage of the tournament where they narrowly lost to England.

He has played 24 NRL matches since making his debut for the New Zealand Warriors in 2014, including 10 matches for the St George Illawarra Dragons in 2016.

Raiders NRL Recruitment & High-Performance Manager said the signing of Havili gives the Raiders NRL squad some more depth in the hooking position, with Josh Hodgson set to miss the start of the season with a knee injury.

“Siliva had a wonderful World Cup tournament for Tonga and he joins the squad to give us some depth to cover the unfortunate loss of Josh Hodgson,” Mulholland said. “We’re looking forward to him joining the squad and having a solid pre-season with his new club.”