So much so, when the Raiders take on the Storm in a top-four blockbuster in Melbourne on Saturday they'll have a similar experience profile to the NRL benchmarks.

The Raiders will look to honour Joey Leilua in his 200^th NRL game and NSW Origin star Jack Wighton in his 150^th, with halfback Aidan Sezer's 150^th next week against Manly.

It's part of a string of milestone's that have included Croker's 250^th and Sia Soliola's 300^th.

Hodgson said the importance of those milestones went beyond honouring their teammates and pointed to a greater good.

The 29-year-old is in his fifth NRL season since joining the Raiders from English Super League club Hull KR.

When he arrived, a majority of the side were five years younger and less experienced as well.

"I think it's massive for us. When I first came here most of the boys were really young," Hodgson said.

"I think Jacko was about 21. There weren't many boys that had played more than 50 NRL games.

"When you're a young kid you aren't going to be the most consistent player on the field.

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"You are going to have those days where you have a bit of up and down, your confidence is a bit low, you haven't got as many games under your belt.

"I think we've got to a stage now where we've got those people stepping up every week.

"We haven't got two or three experienced blokes in the team, we've got 10-12.

"I think that's a massive benefit for us going forward."

A comparison with the Storm shows they've got a similar profile in terms of experience.

The Raiders' starting 13 have an average age of 27 with 128 NRL games under their belts.

That doesn't include Super League games, with Soliola, Hodgson, Elliott Whitehead, John Bateman and Ryan Sutton all having played more than 100 there as well.

The Storm's average age is 26 with 132 NRL games' experience - greatly bolstered by Storm captain Cameron Smith's 404 games.

Both teams also have a similar number of players who have played more than 50, 100 and 200 NRL games.

Croker, who seems to bring up a milestone every week, said Wighton had come a long way since making his debut.

Wighton was found guilty of assault last year, but has worked hard to turn things around in 2019.

"Very proud of Jacko. He's come a long way," Croker said.

"He's had a lot of tough times through that 150 and he's come out the other side and he's playing career-best footy at the moment.

"I've been good mates with Jacko for a long, long time.

"I know what he brings to the field every time he crosses the line - he's aggressive, he's competitive and he wears his heart on his sleeve."

NRL ROUND 22

Saturday: Canberra Raiders v Melbourne Storm at Melbourne, 5.30pm.

Raiders squad: 1. Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, 2. Nick Cotric, 3. Jarrod Croker (c), 4. Joey Leilua, 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. Bailey Simonsson, 15. Dunamis Lui, 16. Corey Horsburgh, 17. Ryan Sutton. Reserves: 18. Sam Williams, 19. Hudson Young, 20. Siliva Havili, 21. Emre Guler.

Storm squad: 1. Jahrome Hughes, 2. Suliasi Vunivalu, 3. Will Chambers, 4. Justin Olam, 5. Josh Addo-Carr, 6. Cameron Munster, 7. Brodie Croft, 8. Jesse Bromwich, 9. Cameron Smith (c), 10. Nelson Asofa-Solomona, 11. Felise Kaufusi, 12. Kenneath Bromwich, 13. Dale Finucane. Interchange: 14. Tui Kamikamica, 15. Tino Faasuamaleaui, 16. Joe Stimson, 17. Ryan Papenhuyzen. Reserves: 18. Max King, 19. Tom Eisenhuth, 20. Sandor Earl, 21. Billy Walters.