Berrigan makes his mark as Raiders ramp up defence

While all eyes were on Terry Campese's much-anticipated return on Saturday night, another veteran made just as important an impact for the Canberra Raiders.

What Shaun Berrigan does is rarely going to show up on the scoreboard.

Not on Canberra's side, anyway.

Berrigan's tenacity in defence and leadership among his younger teammates was evident as the Raiders displayed a steely grit rarely seen in the past 12 months.

Raiders prop Dane Tilse said the vast experience of Berrigan - who has won two NRL titles and represented Australia and Queensland - was an immense help to ensuring everyone did his job in the 27-18 victory against the Melbourne Storm in Albury.

''Berro's been around a long time,'' Tilse said.

''He's really smart and his talk with the younger guys means it's really good having a senior player out wide.

''And with Campo's kicking game, that saves us big forwards a bit of fuel in the tank which is what we need.''

Of the three times the Storm breached the Raiders line, only Ryan Hoffman's effort late in the game, when coach David Furner experimented with fringe and under-20s players, was the result of brilliant attacking play.

The Storm's first try came when lock forward Todd Lowrie was the man in the right place at the right time, diving on a grubber kick which rebounded off several players.

The second was even more freakish. Not wanting to be dragged over the sideline a couple of metres out from his own goal, Raiders fullback Josh Dugan heaved the ball over his head, which Matt McGahan gleefully accepted.

The absence of the Storm's international trio and most creative players - Billy Slater, Cameron Smith and Cooper Cronk - made the Raiders' task easier.

All three are expected to make the trek to Canberra Stadium for the season opener on March 3.

Having conceded a whopping 26points a game last season, Tilse hoped the changes the Raiders had made during the summer continued to pay off.

''Obviously had a few issues with our defence last year, so we've put in the work,'' he said.

''There were a few lucky tries from them so we should've won by 14 or so.

''It's good to finally have won a trial, we haven't done that in a while.''