Hodgson's season appears to be over with the Raiders co-captain limping off with a suspected torn anterior cruciate ligament.

It's an understatement to say that's a massive blow to the Green Machine's premiership hopes.

It will certainly make the 20-14 loss to the Melbourne Storm at Canberra Stadium on Saturday night even harder to take.

But as Hodgson lay on the ground in agony, clutching at his right knee - the opposite to the one he tore playing for England in 2017 - the bunker made a complete hash of a tentative penalty try check by referee Grant Atkins.

Video ref Steve Chiddy somehow ruled that Raiders winger Bailey Simonsson had committed a professional foul on his Storm counterpart Josh Addo-Carr - when Simonsson was clearly playing the ball.

But Simonsson was sent to the sin bin - much to the horror of NSW Blues selector Greg Alexander.

"No it's not ... that's a bad call," he said in the Fox League commentary.

Seconds later Addo-Carr scored as the Storm took advantage of the extra man.

It was a cruel blow, especially on top of Hodgson's departure.

Up until then the Raiders had dominated possession - almost 70 per cent - but had been unable to take advantage of it.

The injury news got even worse for the Green Machine with Bailey Simonsson (shoulder) also unable to finish the game.

Canberra's running short of troops with Corey Horsburgh (foot), Sia Soliola (face) and Emre Guler (ankle) all set to be long-term absentees.

Raiders coach Ricky Stuart was full of praise for his team's efforts as the injury toll continued to mount.

"Bailey I think his shoulder might have subluxed, so hopefully he won't be too long if he is out," he said.

"But Hodgo, we've got to wait on a scan - we're hoping to find somewhere tomorrow to scan him - but it doesn't look good. It looks like it might be an ACL.

"I haven't had [a bigger injury toll in my career]. I just asked [the players] after the game just to keep turning up with that same attitude and desire of their competitiveness. They competed at everything tonight."

To make matters worse, the Raiders have a short turnaround before facing the Sydney Roosters in a grand-final rematch at the SCG on Thursday night.

The Storm had taken the lead from Canberra fullback Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad's lapse in concentration.

He failed to ground a Jahrome Hughes grubber and ex-Raider Brenko Lee was there to make his old club pay.

Raiders coach Ricky Stuart called for Josh Papalii to put the forward pack on his back and that's exactly what the Queensland powerhouse did.

He played the entire first half and finished with 159 metres, barged over for the Raiders' first try, made 31 tackles and had six tackle busts.

Elliott Whitehead almost capped off his excellent run of form with a try, losing the ball in the grounding after a smart show-and-go.

Storm fullback Ryan Papenhuyzen was excellent - not only running for 238m, but he also scored a brilliant long-range try.

He swooped on a George Williams grubber, danced with the sideline and then sprinted 90m to put the game out of Canberra's reach.

Storm coach Craig Bellamy felt for his mate Stuart after he lost his star hooker.

But he was delighted with the efforts of his fullback and labelled the try he scored as freakish.

"I thought he had a great second half. In the first half a couple of his passes were wayward, but when I saw him head for that ball I thought he'd sort of clean it up and go into touch, surely end up in the grandstand on the other side," Bellamy said.

"He got the ball, pulled up and basically went 70m. That was a real turning point in the game for us so he can do some things other people can't do because of his pace.

"Given how quickly he stopped and the way he got that ball was quite amazing."

To their credit, the Raiders fought on despite everything.

They gave themselves a sniff when Nick Cotric crossed in the corner from a nice Jarrod Croker catch-and-pass - albeit with a hint of forward about it.

Nicoll-Klokstad then crossed with a minute remaining giving the Green Machine one last shot - but they couldn't manufacture the miracle.

It was a solid debut for Kai O'Donnell, who started at lock and was energetic to run for 57m and making nine tackles in a 20-minute stint.

Raiders back-up hooker Siliva Havili will now have to shoulder a huge responsibility if Canberra are going to challenge for the title.

He came to the club to help cover Hodgson back in 2018 and will have to produce a similar effort over the final 11 rounds.

Stuart used Jordan Rapana in the middle when he came off the bench, but the New Zealand international will now likely slot back onto the wing to cover Simonsson, who could be another long-term injury.

AT A GLANCE

MELBOURNE STORM 20 (Brenko Lee, Josh Addo-Carr, Ryan Papenhuyzen tries; Cameron Smith 4 goals) bt CANBERRA RAIDERS 14 (Josh Papalii, Nick Cotric, Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad tries; Jarrod Croker goal) at Canberra Stadium. Referee: Grant Atkins.