Recruit Joey Leilua hasn't played a game for the Canberra Raiders, but prop David Shillington thinks he's already made an impact on their backline.
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And Raiders hooker Josh Hodgson says they are a vastly different outfit to the one the New Zealand Warriors have scored more than 50 points against the last two times the teams have met in Auckland.
Centre Leilua joined the Raiders from the Newcastle Knights on a mid-season transfer last week, but wasn't picked in the 17 that suffered the heart-breaking one-point loss to the North Queensland Cowboys at Canberra Stadium on the weekend.
It will be interesting to see where Raiders coach Ricky Stuart sees Leilua fitting in, with the back five of Jack Wighton, Edrick Lee, Jarrod Croker, Sisa Waqa and Jordan Rapana all seemingly settled there.
Shillington said when things were settled it was easy to get complacent, but the arrival of Leilua meant the backs might now start looking over their shoulders and work even harder.
The former Kangaroos prop said Rapana was outstanding against the Cowboys and perhaps Leilua might have played a part in that.
"Depth at a club brings out the best in players, makes players train harder and perform on the weekends," Shillington said.
"They take better care of themselves because they know there's competition for spots and at this club we've always had real good competition in the middle for spots, but probably lacked the depth in the outside backs.
"But now the competition is pretty strong there. Someone like Jordan Rapana on the weekend, he played out of his skin.
"Coincidence? I don't know, but that's what we want."
The Raiders have lost their last four games against the Warriors, with the Kiwis scoring more than 50 points in three of those encounters.
The last time they beat the Kiwi team was more than two years ago and they haven't won in Auckland since September 2012.
Last season's trip to Eden Park was a 54-12 mauling.
This will be Hodgson's first trip across the ditch with the Raiders, although he did play over there for England during the Four Nations.
He said it was a vastly different team to last season and was confident the Raiders had improved since the Warriors knocked them over 18-6 at Canberra Stadium earlier this year.
"There's people that have been and gone from last year and the year before that so we're a totally different squad this year, so it's a bit of a pointless conversation speaking about what's been and gone," Hodgson said.
"Every week we're learning and improving . . . we're definitely growing and on the right track."
Shillington agreed and he was relishing the opportunity to take on the big Warriors pack.
He said the Raiders were heading over on Wednesday to try to keep their good away form going.
Shillington even thought the Warriors might be concerned about the Raiders - especially five-eighth Blake Austin.
"Defensively we've come a long way as a team, we've got better structures in place and the new players we've added to the squad have really contributed to that well," Shillington said.
"Attack wise, too, I think with Austo and those sort of boys firing at the moment, I think the Warriors will be pretty concerned with how they're going to defend him because they won't know what he's doing - I don't think he knows what he's doing sometimes.
"We're in a lot better shape than we were 12 months ago, there's no doubt about that."
NRL ROUND 16
Saturday: Canberra Raiders v NZ Warriors at Auckland, 3pm. TV Time: Live on Fox Sports 1.
