Hudson’s Young gives lightweight hooker Tom Starling NRL lifeline
Canberra Raiders recruit Tom Starling is one of the NRL’s smallest players in recent memory, yet on Thursday night he’ll be tasked with taking down Cronulla wrecking ball Andrew Fifita.
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If any kid was ever told they were too little to play footy they need only look to Canberra hooker Tom Starling for inspiration.
Starling no doubt heard the same thing many times. At 170cm and with a fighting weight barely north of 77kg according to Fox Sports Stats, the Canberra dummy half is one of the smallest players in recent NRL history.
Since 2009 only Preston Campbell, Matt Utai and Jarrod Sammut were shorter, only Campbell was lighter and none of them played in the middle like Starling does, where he’ll take on such leviathans as Cronulla’s Andrew Fifita in Thursday night’s blockbuster at GIO Stadium.
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In a sport filled with giants, Starling proves there’s still room for players of all shapes and sizes.
“I’ve always been the small kid, I’ve never been the biggest, so I have to take what I can control into my game,” Starling told The Daily Telegraph.
“I’m not the tallest guy but I can control how strong I am.
“My dad always said to me when I was coming through to keep plugging away.
“If you get told ‘no’ nine times out of ten, you only need that one. You need that one ‘yes’, someone to believe in you and give you that go.
“That’s what I take out of it.”
Starling was a junior star at the Knights, winning player of the year awards in under 16s and under 18s but after making one first grade appearance last year things fizzled out.
The 21-year old was planning to move up to Queensland Cup side Tweed Heads with a mate in an effort to work his way back to an NRL deal until a chance message from Raiders backrower Hudson Young, a former junior teammate, changed everything.
“I wasn’t giving up, I kept saying to my mum that it was all part of the story, no-one has a dream run into first grade so it didn’t worry me,” Starling said.
“I was going up there to get back into a top 30.
“I was looking for houses up there, looking for a job, when Hudson Young messaged me.
“He said ‘we need a hooker and I mentioned you to Pete (Mullholland, Raiders recruitment manager)’.
“I said ‘I’m up here if they need me’ and Hudson said I should get a call from him.
“I hadn’t heard from the club, it was just Hudson, so that wasn’t a sure thing.
“I was Christmas shopping with my mum when Pete rang me and asked if I wanted to come down for a train and trial.
“Pete said to me at the start, get down here and train like you do. I had six weeks to prove myself, to come down and rip in.”
From there, Starling played in both of Canberra’s pre-season trials and stuck around once the season began, impressing enough with Mounties in NSW Cup to earn a developmental deal.
But before Starling could even sign it, Josh Hodgson broke his hand and the former Knight was propelled into first grade.
“Mounties were playing Bulldogs, me and Brendan O’Hagan, we were watching the boys play the Cowboys the day before we played.
“Hodgy went down and Brendan started joking around that I was in. I hadn’t signed the rookie deal yet.
“Our coach Pete Marrapodi told me I wasn’t playing because I was in NRL contention.
“On the Monday Ricky had a team meeting, he wasn’t sure who was in cause of Origin and all that, and he said ‘I’ll tell you who’s in tomorrow, but Tommy Star is making his club debut for sure’.”
Starling has impressed in the two matches since with his sharp play around the rucks and strong one on one defence and even though Hodgson’s expected return next week will push him out of the side Starling is hopeful he’s shown enough to merit a top 30 spot and then a new contract with the Raiders.
“To think back to the start of the year when I was in a part time system and now I’m playing NRL, it’s pretty crazy,” Starling said.
“I’m definitely keen to stay down here in Canberra, they gave me the opportunity and I want to stay if things work out.
“I just want to prove myself, that I can play NRL week in, week out.”
Smallest players since 2009
Height
Preston Campbell 167
Matt Utai 168
Jarrod Sammut 169
Tom Starling 170
James Segeyaro 170
Weight
Preston Campbell 76
Shannon Gallant 77
Jamal Fogarty 77
Tyler Cornish 77
Tom Starling 77
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