Paulo will face his old teammates for the first time since his return to the Parramatta Eels at Canberra Stadium on Sunday.

He'll go head-to-head against a Raiders front row made up of Josh Papalii and Dunamis Lui, with Hodgson front and centre as well.

Paulo's move appears to have been a win-win situation for both clubs so far, with the 25-year-old adding power to the Eels pack, while the Raiders' more mobile set-up has also started the NRL season strongly.

Hodgson was relishing the test of trying to bring down 123 kilograms of prime beef, especially since Paulo might put a target squarely on his former hooker's chest.

"I'm not so much looking forward to it - I'll enjoy the challenge," he said. "He's a big, skilful kid. He's one of our Meninga Medal winners. He's a great player and we knew we'd miss him when he left because he's a great fella off the field, but there's no mates on the field.

"I'm defending in the middle and he plays in the middle. As a hooker you tend to make 30-40 tackles a game so at some point you're going to be colliding with each other.

"I do like the challenge of playing against bigger men, especially blokes you've played with - it gives you that extra bit of incentive to try and win."

Paulo could also find himself going toe-to-toe with his old roommate.

Raiders forward Joe Tapine is returning from a thumb injury and could be used either on an edge or through the middle.

If the latter, then they'll collide at some point during the game.

Tapine didn't want to spill the dirt on Paulo's annoying habits, but was looking forward to the chance of catching up after the game.

As well as the chance of taking him down during it.

"The old roomie, he runs hard. I think he's going to try and have a big game obviously," Tapine said. 

"We'll go hard in the game and after the game have a beer or a chat and catch-up. Playing against him is going to be tough, but I love a challenge."

NRL ROUND FIVE

Sunday: Canberra Raiders v Parramatta Eels at Canberra Stadium, 6.10pm.

Raiders squad: 1. Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, 2. Nick Cotric, 3. Jarrod Croker (c), 4. Joey Leilua, 5. Jordan Rapana, 6. Jack Wighton, 7. Sam Williams, 8. Josh Papalii, 9. Josh Hodgson (c), 10. Dunamis Lui, 11. John Bateman, 12. Elliott Whitehead, 13. Ryan Sutton. Interchange: 14. Siliva Havili, 15. Hudson Young, 16. Sia Soliola, 17. Joe Tapine. Reserves: 18. Royce Hunt, 19. Aidan Sezer, 20. Bailey Simonsson, 21. JJ Collins.

Eels squad: 1. Clint Gutherson (c), 2. Maika Sivo, 3. Michael Jennings, 4. Brad Takairangi, 5. Blake Ferguson, 6. Jaeman Salmon, 7. Mitch Moses, 8. Daniel Alvaro, 9. Reed Mahoney, 10. Junior Paulo, 11. Shaun Lane, 12. Marata Niukore, 13. Tepai Moeroa. Interchange: 14. Peni Terepo, 15. Tim Mannah, 16. Kane Evans, 17. Oregon Kaufusi. Reserves: 18. David Gower, 19. Ray Stone, 20. Josh Hoffman, 21. Bevan French.