Raiders power pair set to pack mightier punch out wide this season

THEY scored 34 tries between them in 2016, but Jordan Rapana has vowed to make his combination with Joey Leilua even better at Canberra this year.

Rapana and Leilua shot the Raiders to within one win of the NRL grand final last season, as they terrorised opposition left-edge defences. They were also the sixth best right- edge defensive pairing in the league according to Fox Sports Stats, allowing just 16 tries to originate on their far side of the field last year.

But that figure isn’t good enough for the 28-year-old Rapana, who wants to step it up another notch in 2017.

“I want to be a ruthless defender,” Rapana said. “A player people come up against and kind of fear. We scored tries last year and we also leaked quite a few points. It’s something that we’ve done a lot of work on in the pre-season.”

Rough diamonds at the start of last season, the two stars were revitalised by the Raiders and became one of the talking points of the 2016 season. Aside from their pointscoring feats, Rapana led the league for linebreaks while the pair were both ranked in the top-five for tackle busts.

It saw Tugun Seahawks junior Rapana rewarded with New Zealand selection at last year’s Four Nations, but the 27-year-old knows the hunters will soon become the hunted.

“That was a goal of mine last year to make the end-of-season tour and I have another one this year to make the World Cup,” Rapana said.

“But I know teams are going to be coming down a lot harder on myself and Joey.”

Rapana is off-contract at the end of the year, but is confident only the formalities are stopping him from penning a long-term deal in the ACT.

“It’s meant to be just around the corner,” Rapana said.