The Canberra Raiders have their sights set on doing what no punter thinks they can: ending the Melbourne Storm's 17-game winning streak.
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The Storm have remained undefeated since April but the Raiders are hoping to change that on Thursday by building on the back of three wins from their last four outings as they look to secure a finals berth.
Craig Bellamy's side have rarely been challenged during their winning run, having last tasted defeat against the Panthers in March in round three. They dominated Canberra 34-10 in their last match-up in May.
Englishman Josh Hodgson missed the Raiders' last hitout against the Storm but said from his experience in previous years, his side would have to be at their best heading into Thursday's fixture.
The side is honing in and focusing on the simple aspects of the game to get them over the line.
"If you're off, or you've given too many chances, they certainly make you pay for it," he said.
"We've still got a lot of work to do but at the end of the day if you don't hold good field position, you don't run out and you don't make your tackles, if you don't have any of those three things you're gonna lose most games.
"So simplifying it has been a big thing for probably the last six weeks that we've been working on. A lot of the talent that we've got on our team comes off the back of that."
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Sitting in eighth position and on the cusp of finals footy, Ricky Stuart's side needs to take away as many points as possible in the next four weeks if it hopes to bank a finals spot.
Three of the next four teams they face - the Storm, the Manly Sea Eagles and the Sydney Roosters - sit above them on the NRL ladder.
The Raiders hooker acknowledged his side needed to secure as many points as it could in the next four weeks to make finals a reality, saying it would be a hard road.
Hodgson said the side had historically performed well when its back was against the wall and it counted most, in the big games.
"It's in our own hands now," the 31-year-old said.
"We're in the eight, so we've just got to make sure we get these results to stay in it, and at the end of the day ... we have got a tough draw on the way in, but you've got to beat the best if you want to be the best. So if we don't beat them and we don't get in the eight, it's only our own doing.
"[In] the last four or five weeks, our intensity in our defence and our aggression has really been up there and that's the key to winning games."
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