BY DAN

The Canberra Raiders have announced that Tom Starling has re-signed with the club until the end of the 2027 season. This is welcome if not surprising, a confirmation of previous reports that had elevated hopes that had fallen in the pre-season, and with the departure of Jamal Fogarty.

It’s unquestionably a good outcome for the Raiders. Tom Starling may never be the best nine in the competition but he doesn’t need to be. He just needs to continue to be who he is: a resolute and courageous footballer. A blink of pace at a position that is usually more a rumble. An important cog in the bigger wheel of what the club could achieve.

There was a time people thought he might be deliverance. In the context of what Canberra are now embarking on that’s an important lesson to hold. There’s more promises made about talent than dreams. In the chaos of 2020 and 2021, when Peter V’Landys opened the ruck like he was eating an orange he became a player who thrived. His pace and Vlando’s space made passing irrelevant. He could run five metres before the opposition had managed to get their burning lungs back into the line.

The game’s return to normalcy brought Starling back to the pack. A reductions in six again reduced his effectiveness, bringing back passing and creativity that Starling never possessed, or developed. For a time it felt like his limits mirrored those of the side and it was hard to decide who was causing and who was effecting. But even when it wasn’t perfect he remained a threat, an honest threat. No deception, too pure for that world. Just honest footy played at pace.

The full circle here is that while the game hasn’t changed further, the Raiders have. The pace and athleticism they are playing through the middle suits Starling’s game. Maybe he’s learned a thing or two. Maybe he’ll find a crash ball, or a grubber, when he sees it. But more than that he’s leaned in to who he is. Instead of the next great dummy-half we’ve had to settle for courageous and capable. Tom will never be a star, but there’s not a soul out there that would ever question his willingness to push his body to its limits to deliver for the club.

And that’s fine. That works with this team, and it’ll work into the future. He’s a perfect workhorse. Happy to play 70 minutes, make fifty tackles, provide good enough service and not get in the way. He allows Fogarty to run the show, Pattie to feel his way into the side, and Hudson Young to play footy in a tandem with the same energy as Step Brothers (Do you want to do Karate in the Garage?!!).

He also presents a useful pairing for Owen Pattie, a foil that remains impactful even as the weight of minutes likely transitions to the young fella. Thunder and lightning. Hammer and nail. One the creator, the other a finisher. But they also work as useful guides. Starling spoke in the offseason of learning new tricks off Pattie, but the emerging star will also benefit from the guidance of someone for whom expectations created a pressure as dramatic as the competition on the park.

A two year extension matches well with the structure of the side, getting more of the prime of Starling, allowing Pattie and maybe Shaun Packer to emerge, and ensuring depth at the position. It also means that the Raiders will have plenty of depth at nine, with Jayden Brailey and Packer manning cup. This is a great scenario for the Milk. They have experience, talent, and a pipeline, all at arguably the most important and hard to fill position in the game. Nailed it.

For so long we’d put the weight of taking over from Josh Hodgson on Tom Starling’s shoulders. We should have known better. That unhelpful hope meant we failed to recognise him for what he was – in ways limited, in ways exhilarating. Tom Starling’s story in Canberra is as much about acceptance as it is about growth. For some time Canberra has been looking for more creativity, better implemented structure, more playmaking. We wanted more. Instead Tom Starling will just give his all.

And now he’s doing it for another two years.

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