The Canberra Raiders have signed Tonga hooker Siliva Havili from the Dragons as they look to boost their dummy-half stocks after an injury to Josh Hodgson.

Havili played a key role in Tonga's stunning run to the World Cup semi-final, having played 24 NRL matches for the Warriors and Dragons since making his debut in 2014.

England star Hodgson is set to miss a large part of the 2018 season with a knee injury suffered at the World Cup.

"Siliva had a wonderful World Cup tournament for Tonga and he joins the squad to give us some depth to cover the unfortunate loss of Josh Hodgson," Raiders NRL recruitment and high-performance manager Peter Mulholland said. 

"We're looking forward to him joining the squad and having a solid pre-season with his new club."