Canberra forward Paul Vaughan says his side is preparing to play a St George Illawarra team that has ex-Raiders bad boy Josh Dugan at the back.

Dugan has not been named in the Dragons’ NRL team list to play the Raiders in Canberra on Saturday due to an ankle injury.

However there are whispers the NSW Blues star will make an early return to the park to help get the Dragons’ season rolling.

And the Raiders are treating the talk seriously.

“We’re expecting him to play,” Vaughan said.

“So hopefully we can contain him, because he’s a class player.”

There’s no team that knows Dugan like the Raiders.

He debuted for the club in 2009, notching up 26 tries over 70 NRL games for the club.

He was then sacked in 2013 following a string of off-field incidents.

Then, in his first game back to Canberra Stadium in 2014, Dugan spearheaded the Dragons to a 34-16 win over the Raiders to crush a 14-year hoodoo in Canberra.

Dugan received a hostile reception from the Canberra faithful during that outing, but Vaughan says enough time has passed that the players no longer think of him in terms of an ex-teammate – just a huge threat.

“Yeah, you move on from that and we treat him now as just a very dangerous player,” Vaughan said.

The Raiders will be without their own dangerous fullback Jack Wighton, who is out for up to three weeks after suffering a facial injury.

He’ll be replaced by Jordan Rapana, who has impressed in his eight NRL games over the last seven years.

Rapana’s career is one of the most disjointed in the NRL’s history.

It’s been interrupted by a two-year Mormon mission to the UK, a failed stint at Super Rugby, and a string of recent injuries.

“Bit of a blow for Jack to miss a couple of weeks, but Rapana can fill that slot pretty well,” Vaughan says.

KEY STATS

Canberra v St George Illawarra

* Last year the Dragons won their first game in Canberra since 2000 with a 34-16 victory.

* The Raiders have their best winning percentage against the Dragons at 66.7 per cent.

* Raiders prop Dane Tilse will celebrate his 200th NRL game.

* A Raiders win would see them win two of their three opening matches for the first time since the 2008.

* If the Dragons lose, it will be just the third time the club has lost all three of their opening games.

* The Dragons have scored eight points in their opening two matches, the least since the Bulldogs scored two in 2000.