Tom Starling

Tom Starling

Personal information
Full name	Thomas Starling
Born	(1998-06-04) 4 June 1998 (age 26) Windsor, New South Wales, Australia
Height	172 cm (5 ft 8 in)
Weight	80 kg (12 st 8 lb)
Playing information
Position	Hooker
Club Years Team Pld T G FG P 2018 Newcastle Knights 1 0 0 0 0 2019– Canberra Raiders 108 11 0 0 44 Total 109 11 0 0 44
Source: [1] As of 7 September 2024

Tom Starling (born 4 June 1998) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays as a hooker for the Canberra Raiders in the National Rugby League (NRL).

He previously played for the Newcastle Knights in the NRL.

Background

Starling was born in Windsor, New South Wales, Australia. Starling is of Irish heritage.^[2]

He played his junior rugby league for the Kincumber Colts, before being signed by the Newcastle Knights.

Playing career

Early years

In June 2015, Starling won the Newcastle Knights Carlson Club-Andrew Johns Medal for best under-18s player.^[3] In September 2015, he won the S. G. Ball Cup Player of the Year award for best under-18s player.^[4] From 2015 to 2017, he played for the Newcastle Knights' National Youth Competition team.^[5] In September 2017, he re-signed with Newcastle on a one-year contract until the end of 2018.

2018

In 2018, Starling alternated between the new Jersey Flegg Cup competition^[6] and Intrust Super Premiership NSW competition for the Knights.^[7] In round 25 of the 2018 NRL season, he made his NRL debut for the Newcastle Knights against the St. George Illawarra Dragons.^[8] He parted ways with the Newcastle club at the end of the season.^[9]

2019

In 2019, Starling joined the Canberra Raiders as a development player. In round 12, he was granted an exemption by the NRL to join the top squad as a player outside of the top 30 due to the Raiders' injury toll and players missing to State of Origin. He made his debut for Canberra off the interchange bench against the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs,^[10] with Canberra winning 12–10.^[11]

Starling spent most of the year playing for Canberra's feeder club side Mounties in the Canterbury Cup NSW competition. Starling played in Mounties elimination final loss against Newtown at Campbelltown Stadium.^[12]

2020

Starling had a breakout year in 2020 after starting hooker Josh Hodgson went down with a season ending ACL injury.^[13] Starling entered the first grade side from round 10 onwards, rotating as the starting hooker with Siliva Havili and was instrumental in Canberra's run to the finals. Starling played in all three finals games for Canberra including the preliminary final loss to Melbourne.^[14]

Starling was rewarded for his stellar season with a two-year extension to keep him at the Canberra club until the end of 2022.^[15]

2021

In round 22 of the 2021 NRL season, Starling suffered a broken jaw in Canberra's loss against Melbourne. He was later ruled out for an indefinite period.^[16]

He played a total of 19 games for Canberra in the 2021 NRL season which saw the club finish 10th on the table and miss out on the finals.^[17][18]

2022

Starling featured in every game for Canberra in the 2022 NRL season as the club finished 8th on the table and qualified for the finals. Starling played in both finals matches as Canberra were eliminated in the second week by Parramatta.^[19]

2023

Starling played a total of 23 matches for Canberra in the 2023 NRL season as the club finished 8th on the table and qualified for the finals. Starling played in Canberra's 30-28 elimination finals loss against Newcastle.^[20]

2024

Starling played 23 games for Canberra in the 2024 NRL season as the club finished 9th on the table.^[21]

Statistics

Year	Team	Games	Tries	Pts
2018	Newcastle Knights	1
2019	Canberra Raiders	3
2020		14	4	16
2021		19	2	8
2022		26	2	8
2023		23	3	12
2024		23
	Totals	109	11	44

*denotes season competing

Controversy

On 5 December 2020, Starling was arrested and charged with assaulting police after a fight broke out at the Shady Palms Bar Restaurant in Kincumber on the Central Coast. Starling was reportedly charged with five counts of assaulting an officer in the execution of duty, affray and resisting arrest.^[22]

On 21 January 2021, Starling had six of the seven charges against him dropped.^[23]

On 20 October 2021, it was reported by the media that Starling had been arrested by NSW Police after an altercation at a Central Coast Bar. Starling was charged with threatening or causing injury to potential juror or witness and behaving in offensive manner in or near public place or school. Starling was granted conditional bail to appear at Gosford Local Court on 11 January 2022.^[24]

References

1. Ferguson, Shawn Dollin and Andrew. "Tom Starling - Career Stats & Summary - Rugby League Project". www.rugbyleagueproject.org. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
2. "Raiders Backgrounds". Twitter. 24 March 2022.
3. KEEBLE, BRET (4 June 2015). "Who is the up and coming talent at the Knights?". Retrieved 31 August 2018.
4. "Starling named SG Ball Player of the Year". 14 September 2015. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
5. "S". NYC DATABASE. 27 December 2012. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
6. "Warriors v Newcastle". NYC DATABASE. 6 August 2018. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
7. "TEAMS: NSWRL Intrust Super Premiership - 2018 Round 7 » League Unlimited". League Unlimited. 17 April 2018. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
8. "Round 25 squad: Debutant named pending NRL approval". 28 August 2018. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
9. "2019 NRL rosters: Official squads announced for all teams". 8 November 2018. Retrieved 26 November 2018.
10. "NRL Team List: Raiders v Bulldogs". Canberra Raiders. 28 May 2019. Retrieved 3 June 2019.
11. "Bateman back with a bang as Raiders scrape past Bulldogs". Canberra Raiders. 1 June 2019. Retrieved 3 June 2019.
12. "Finals week 1". NSWRL.
13. Samaras, Vincent (12 July 2020). "Hodgson goes down in horror night for Raiders". Canberra Weekly. Newstate Media. Retrieved 2 October 2020.
14. "Canberra Raiders coach Ricky Stuart storms out of press conference after one question". wwos.nine.com.au. 16 October 2020.
15. Samaras, Vincent (29 September 2020). "Rising Starling re-signs with Raiders". Canberra Weekly. Newstate Media. Retrieved 2 October 2020.
16. "Fifita hospitalised with 'significant' larynx injury, 'trouble breathing': Casualty Ward". www.foxsports.com.au. 16 August 2021.
17. "Roosters' 'Mr Fix It' stuns with hat-trick, Sloppy Raiders' final fade out ends season: 3 Big Hits". www.foxsports.com.au. 2 September 2021.
18. "Tough conversations coming for senior Canberra stars as interest grows in Parramatta young gun Dylan Brown". www.theaustralian.com.au.
19. "Eels send ruthless title message, bury finals 'ghosts' in Raiders no-show: 3 Big Hits". www.foxsports.com.au. 16 September 2022.
20. "Ricky turned losing a club legend into a winning season. Now for his biggest challenge - Brutal Review". www.foxsports.com.au. 14 September 2023.
21. "The Mole's end-of-season review: The 'wasted' enforcer Ricky Stuart must 'fire up' in 2025". www.nine.com.au. 11 September 2024.
22. "Raiders rising star arrested and charged with assaulting police". www.foxsports.com.au. 7 December 2020.
23. "Raiders hooker Tom Starling has charges - including assaulting police - dropped". www.foxsports.com.au. 21 January 2021.
24. "Canberra young gun Starling arrested AGAIN, throwing Hodgson and Raiders' roster into limbo". www.foxsports.com.au. 20 October 2021.

External links

• Canberra Raiders profile
• Newcastle Knights profile