A key feature of the Raiders success in 2019 has been the sheer number of Englishmen playing for the club.

Josh Hodgson was the first of the crop to arrive in 2015, with Elliot Whitehead, John Bateman and Ryan Sutton all following him south. Wigan's George Williams will join the quartet in 2020.

For Widdop, the group will pose a big challenge, but he's confident his Dragons teammates will prevail in what is a crucial fixture for the side.

"It's always good coming up against teammates, it's a shame I'm not out there playing," Widdop said. "They're playing some really good football at the moment and it's a big challenge for us this week. They're in the top four, so our boys are looking forward to it."

While Widdop arrived as a 15-year-old when his family moved to Melbourne, his debut in 2010 coincided with that of Sam Burgess. James Graham made his NRL debut two years later, with the trio the first of the current crop to make an impact in the competition.

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With even more of Britain's top talent set to arrive in Australia, Widdop feels it can only be good for international rugby league.

"For international rugby league and England in general, it's good to have guys coming over to the NRL and testing themselves week in, week out. As you can tell, all the boys that have come out here have worked really hard and are doing really well, which is good."

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