But Whitehead vowed his fellow Englishman was fully committed to the Green Machine cause as they look to end a four-game losing streak when they take on Newcastle at Wagga Wagga on Saturday.

Whitehead will lean on Hodgson as he adjusted to the new role, having joined Jarrod Croker as co-captain two weeks ago.

The 31-year-old wouldn't go into the reasons behind Hodgson's decision to relinquish the captaincy, which came after the Raiders' loss to Parramatta in round six.

It's forced Whitehead to step up his leadership as speculation circled Hodgson's future as the star hooker recovered from a calf injury.

Hodgson's contracted to the Green Machine until the end of next year, but Brisbane and Canterbury have reportedly discussed the dummy half internally.

His management haven't approached the Raiders to get permission to speak to other clubs and they declined to comment when contacted by The Canberra Times.

Whitehead said Hodgson's resignation had caught everyone off guard.

"It was a bit out of the blue, but he had his reasons - which I'm not going to tell anyone," he said on Thursday.

"The boys were all a bit shocked at the start and obviously we've had a few losses and it was a bit quiet around the place.

"But this week's been really positive and we've prepared really well, and we're just looking forward to getting out there.

"Josh has been awesome. He's injured at the moment, but he's fully committed to the club.

"And he's shown that. He's shown he's still a leader at the club, he's always talking.

"Everything I've seen from Josh [shows] he's still committed to the club and will be a big part of this club leading forward."

MORE RAIDERS NEWS

It's Whitehead's sixth season with the Green Machine, during which he's played 131 NRL games.

He was looking forward to the challenge of being a co-captain - although he'll once again be the sole leader as Croker (shoulder) edged closer to a return.

"It's a little challenge for myself to step up and probably talk a bit more, but I feel I'm capable of doing that so I'm looking forward to the challenge," Whitehead said.

"I'll try to lead the team as best as I can this weekend and hopefully we can get the win and move on from there.

"[Hodgson will] be there as someone I can lean on and ask for advice if I get stuck and I'm sure he'll be there to help me.

"The same with Jarrod as well. Then I've still got leaders around me like Josh Papalii and Jack Wighton.

"We've got good leadership here, we just need to get back to winning ways and all this will go away. So that's the main thing."

NRL ROUND NINE

Saturday: Canberra Raiders v Newcastle Knights at Wagga Wagga, 3pm.

Raiders squad: 1. Caleb Aekins, 2. Bailey Simonsson, 3. Sebastian Kris, 4. Curtis Scott, 5. Jordan Rapana, 6. Jack Wighton, 7. George Williams, 8. Josh Papalii, 9. Tom Starling, 10. Emre Guler, 11. Corey Harawira-Naera, 12. Elliott Whitehead (c), 13. Ryan Sutton. Interchange: 14. Siliva Havili, 15. Hudson Young, 16. Corey Horsburgh, 17. Joe Tapine. Reserves: 18. Sam Williams, 19. Ryan James, 20. Matt Timoko, 21. Dunamis Lui.

Knights squad: 1. Kalyn Ponga, 2. Brayden Musgrove, 3. Enari Tuala, 4. Bradman Best, 5. Hymel Hunt, 6. Kurt Mann, 7. Phoenix Crossland, 8. David Klemmer, 9. Jayden Brailey, 10. Daniel Saifiti, 11. Tyson Frizell, 12. Mitchell Barnett, 13. Connor Watson. Interchange: 14. Sauaso Sue, 15. Jacob Saifiti, 16. Brodie Jones, 17. Pasami Saulo. Reserves: 18. Lachlan Fitzgibbon, 19. Starford To'a, 20. Josh King, 21. Tex Hoy.