The Canberra Raiders have confirmed hooker Tom Starling has re-signed until at least the end of the 2027 NRL season.
The crafty dummy half has added two years to his tenure in the nation's capital in a move that will overload the club's dummy half stocks.
The Raiders have already signed Jayden Brailey from the Newcastle Knights from the start of 2026, while Ricky Stuart and his staff have high hopes for youngster Owen Pattie who has made his way into first-grade this year.
Starling, the club's current starting dummy half, has played 118 matches for the Raiders since 2019, and played all ten games this year where he has been a critical part of the green machine's march up the ladder despite running into a horror fixture list.
Starling said his priority was always to remain with the Raiders.
โIt's the club I want to be at. It's where my NRL career started and I'm very happy to be here for another two years and keep building on what we've got rolling here,โ Starling said in a club statement confirming the news.
โI think the team is playing well at the moment, which is allowing me to play well.
โIt's been a different role for me this year, starting, and I just wanted to go out there and prove I could do it week in, week out and be a regular starter.โ
The Raiders, who will push to for a top four spot this year, are thrilled to re-sign Starling, with club recruitment manager Joel Carbone pointing to Starling's form.
โTom has had a wonderful start to the season and has been in great form for us so far in 2025,โ Carbone said.
โIt's great that we can re-sign him on a new two-year deal, and we look forward to him continuing his form for the rest of this season and beyond.โ
Starling revealed he wanted to re-sign because he believes the Ricky Stuart-coached outfit are on the right track.
โIt's one of the main reasons I wanted to stay is that I believe in what we are building here and with Taps (Joe Tapine) as the Captain this year, he has a leadership group underneath him and I feel like I'm a part of that," he said.
โI see the talent we have and I would have been filthy if I walked away from this club and left something special behind that I feel like I helped build and that I want to be a part of.โ
