Tom Starling (born 4 June 1998) is an Australian professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

footballer who plays as a for the

Canberra Raiders The Canberra Raiders are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the national capital city of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. They have competed in Australasia's elite rugby league competition, the National Rugby ...

in the

National Rugby League The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...

(NRL). He previously played for the

Newcastle Knights The Newcastle Knights are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. They compete in Australasia's premier rugby league competition, the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership. Playing in red and blue, th ...

in the NRL.

Background

Starling was born in

Windsor, New South Wales Windsor is a historic town north-west of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is the council seat of the Hawkesbury local government area. The town sits on the Hawkesbury River, enveloped by farmland and Australian bush. Many of the oldest sur ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. Starling is of Irish heritage. He played his junior rugby league for the

Kincumber Colts The Kincumber Colts are an Australian junior rugby league football club based in the suburb of Kincumber, New South Wales. They have numerous teams competing in competitions run by the Central Coast Division of Country Rugby League, from U/7s th ...

, before being signed by the

Playing career

Early years

In June 2015, Starling won the

Carlson Club-

Andrew Johns Andrew Gary Johns (born 19 May 1974) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest players in rugby league history. Johns captained the Newcas ...

Medal for best under-18s player. In September 2015, he won the

S. G. Ball Cup The S. G. Ball Cup is a junior rugby league football competition played predominantly in New South Wales, between teams made up of players aged under 19. Teams from Canberra and Melbourne (Victoria Thunderbolts) also participate. Prior to the C ...

Player of the Year award for best under-18s player. From 2015 to 2017, he played for the Newcastle Knights' National Youth Competition team. In September 2017, he re-signed with

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

on a one-year contract until the end of 2018.

2018

In 2018, Starling alternated between the new

Jersey Flegg Cup The Jersey Flegg Cup is a junior rugby league competition played in New South Wales, contested among teams made up of players aged 21 or under. The competition is administered by the New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL), and is named for Easter ...

competition and

Intrust Super Premiership NSW The NSW Cup, currently known as the Knock-On Effect NSW Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a rugby league competition for clubs in New South Wales. The competition has a history dating back to the NSWRFL's origins in 1908, starting off as a reserv ...

competition for the Knights. In round 25 of the

2018 NRL season The 2018 NRL season was the 111th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 21st season run by the National Rugby League. The main competition, known as the 2018 Telstra Premiership due to sponsorship from Telstra, featured 16 team ...

, he made his

NRL The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...

debut for the

against the

St. George Illawarra Dragons The St. George Illawarra Dragons is an Australian professional rugby league football club, representing both the Illawarra and St George regions of New South Wales. The club has competed in the National Rugby League since 1999 after a joint-ve ...

. He parted ways with the Newcastle club at the end of the season.

2019

In 2019, Starling joined the

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 A State of Origin competition is a type of sporting event between players representing their state or territory. State of Origin began in Australian rules football on 8 October 1977 between Western Australia (WA) and Victoria, at Subiaco Oval ...

. He made his debut for Canberra off the

interchange bench Interchange (or, colloquially, the bench or interchange bench) is a team position in Australian rules football, consisting of players who are part of the selected team but are not currently on the field of play. Interchange numbers AFL As of t ...

against the

Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Belmore, a suburb in the Canterbury-Bankstown region of Sydney. They compete in the NRL Telstra Premiership, as well as competitions facilita ...

, with Canberra winning 12–10. Starling spent most of the year playing for Canberra's feeder club side

Mounties The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; french: Gendarmerie royale du Canada; french: GRC, label=none), commonly known in English as the Mounties (and colloquially in French as ) is the federal police, federal and national police service of ...

in the

Canterbury Cup NSW The NSW Cup, currently known as the Knock-On Effect NSW Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a rugby league competition for clubs in New South Wales. The competition has a history dating back to the NSWRFL's origins in 1908, starting off as a reserve ...

competition. Starling played in Mounties elimination final loss against Newtown at

Campbelltown Stadium Campbelltown Stadium, formerly Orana Park and Campbelltown Sports Ground, is a multi-use stadium in Leumeah, New South Wales, Australia, owned by Campbelltown City Council. It is the home ground of the Western Suburbs Magpies and the Wests Ti ...

2020

Starling had a breakout year in 2020 after starting hooker Josh Hodgson went down with a season ending ACL injury. Starling entered the first grade side from round 10 onwards, rotating as the starting hooker with

Siliva Havili Siliva Havili (born 18 February 1993) is a professional rugby league footballer who plays as a and for the South Sydney Rabbitohs in the National Rugby League (NRL). He has played for both Tonga and New Zealand at international level. He pre ...

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

2021

In round 22 of the

2021 NRL season The 2021 NRL season was the 114th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 24th season run by the National Rugby League. Teams The lineup of teams remained unchanged for the 15th consecutive year. Regular season Ladd ...

, Starling suffered a broken jaw in Canberra's loss against Melbourne. He was later ruled out for an indefinite period. He played a total of 19 games for Canberra in the

which saw the club finish 10th on the table and miss out on the finals.

2022

Starling featured in every game for Canberra in the

2022 NRL season The 2022 NRL season is the 115th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 25th season run by the National Rugby League. Teams The lineup of teams remained unchanged for the 16th consecutive year. This became the second longest s ...

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 Parramatta () is a suburb and major Central business district, commercial centre in Greater Western Sydney, located in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located approximately west of the Sydney central business district on the ban ...

2023

Starling played a total of 23 matches for Canberra in the

2023 NRL season The 2023 NRL season is the 116th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 26th season run by the National Rugby League. Teams For the 2023 season, the number of teams in the NRL has increased from sixteen to seventeen with the ...

as the club finished 8th on the table and qualified for the finals. Starling played in Canberra's 30-28 elimination finals loss against

Statistics

*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 Kincumber is a south-eastern suburb of the Central Coast region of New South Wales, Australia, nested between the Kincumba Mountain Reserve and the Kincumber Broadwater and located north of Sydney via the Sydney-Newcastle Freeway (F3). It is ...

on the Central Coast. Starling was reportedly charged with five counts of assaulting an officer in the execution of duty, affray and resisting arrest. On 21 January 2021, Starling had six of the seven charges against him dropped. 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 January 11, 2022.

References

External links

Canberra Raiders profileNewcastle Knights profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Starling, Tom 1998 births Living people Australian people of Irish descent Australian rugby league players Canberra Raiders players Newcastle Knights players Rugby league hookers Rugby league players from Windsor, New South Wales