CANBERRA Raiders legend Brett Mullins says his former side must maintain its defensive green wall and let their attack flourish naturally as they build towards next week's clash in Wagga as one of the NRL's hottest teams.
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The Raiders haven't won a premiership since 1994, the second longest NRL drought behind Parramatta, but are equal top of the ladder with a 5-1 record after Sunday's 26-22 win over Brisbane.
The 1994 was chock full of freakish attacking talent, with current coach Ricky Stuart and Laurie Daley pulling the strings in the halves for lethal finishers like Mullins, Mal Meninga, Noa Nadruku and Ken Nagas.
But they were also brutal in defence, finishing that season with the second best defensive record.
The 1994 outfit conceded an average of 13.5 points per game while the current crop have allowed a league best 11 points per game over the opening six rounds.
It's a far cry from the past two seasons, conceding 22.5 per game last year (12th in NRL) and 20.7 (tenth) in 2017.
The Raiders will host the second NRL game in Wagga against Penrith next Saturday afternoon, and Young product Mullins hopes they can maintain their ruthless edge.
"Defence is where they let themselves down. It's great to see that's improved because their attack comes naturally," Mullins said.
"We had a very good attacking side (in 1994), but we don't get credit for how good we were defensively.
"It's hard to find what we had, it doesn't happen very often, but the current squad is definitely tracking in the right direction and it's positive signs."
One of the best fullbacks of the modern era, Mullins has been impressed by how seamlessly Warriors recruit Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad has settled into the Raiders no.1 jersey.
It has allowed Canberra to shift noted strong defender Jack Wighton into the defensive line at five-eighth.
"I've been very impressed with Charnze. He's tough, he's always on the ball and they've got a good asset there," Mullins said.
"I think Jack's going well at five-eighth. Ricky needed to make a few changes and it looks like he's made the right ones, at this stage anyway."
Mullins is hopeful his nephew, Panthers forward Jack Hetherington, will get a call-up for the Wagga clash after he was dropped from first grade after round two.
He backed Raiders skipper Jarrod Croker's desire to take more games to the country, and even emulate Penrith's association with Bathurst by making a match in Wagga an annual event.
"The more they get out to the country areas, the better," Mullins said.
"I know the AFL are taking over in that area, but there's room for both. I think league needs to do more to get out into the country areas."
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