Tom Starling

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

Tom Starling
Personal information
Full nameThomas Starling
Born (1998-06-04) 4 June 1998
Windsor, New South Wales, Australia
Height170 cm (5 ft 7 in)
Weight82 kg (12 st 13 lb)
Playing information
PositionHooker
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2018 Newcastle Knights 1 0 0 0 0
2019– Canberra Raiders 17 4 0 0 16
Total 18 4 0 0 16
As of 17 November 2020
Source: [1]

He previously played for the Newcastle Knights in the National Rugby League.

Background

Starling was born in Windsor, New South Wales, Australia.

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 Knights' Carlson Club-Andrew Johns Medal for best under-18s player.[2] In September 2015, he won the S. G. Ball Cup Player of the Year award for best under-18s player.[3] From 2015 to 2017, he played for the Newcastle Knights' National Youth Competition team.[4] In September 2017, he re-signed with the Knights on a 1-year contract until the end of 2018.[5]

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 Knights against the St. George Illawarra Dragons.[8] He parted ways with the Knights 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 Raiders until the end of 2022.[15]

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.[16]

On 21 January 2021, Starling had six of the seven charges against him dropped.[17]

References
  1. Ferguson, Shawn Dollin and Andrew. "Tom Starling - Career Stats & Summary - Rugby League Project". www.rugbyleagueproject.org. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
  2. KEEBLE, BRET (4 June 2015). "Who is the up and coming talent at the Knights?". Retrieved 31 August 2018.
  3. "Starling named SG Ball Player of the Year". 14 September 2015. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
  4. "S". 27 December 2012. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
  5. "Yates re-signs". 27 September 2017. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
  6. "Warriors v Newcastle". 6 August 2018. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
  7. "TEAMS: NSWRL Intrust Super Premiership - 2018 Round 7 » League Unlimited". League Unlimited. 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. "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.
  15. Samaras, Vincent. "Rising Starling re-signs with Raiders". Canberra Weekly. Newstate Media. Retrieved 2 October 2020.
  16. "Raiders rising star arrested and charged with assaulting police". www.foxsports.com.au.
  17. "Raiders hooker Tom Starling has charges - including assaulting police - dropped". www.foxsports.com.au.
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