Saints sign Raiders hooker Tom Starling on three-year deal

St Helens have signed Canberra Raiders hooker Tom Starling on a three-year contract, BBC Sport reports. The 28-year-old will join the Super League club ahead of the 2027 season.

Starling has spent the past eight years in Australia's NRL, the country's top rugby league competition. He joined Canberra from Newcastle Knights in 2018 and has been with the Raiders ever since. Super League is the leading competition in England, and the move takes him across the world to a club with a long history in the north of England.

A hooker is the player in the middle of the front row. In league, every tackle ends with a "play-the-ball", and the hooker is usually the one who passes the ball back into play. It is a demanding role that combines hard physical work with quick decisions.

All Out Rugby League reported earlier this month that Canberra head coach Ricky Stuart had given Starling the green light to finalise the move.

The signing comes after a difficult season for Saints. They finished seventh in Super League in 2026 and missed the end-of-season play-offs for the first time. Those play-offs decide the league's champions, so the club will be looking to bounce back.

Starling is the club's fourth close-season signing. The close season is the break between one campaign and the next, when clubs recruit and rebuild. He joins Sean O'Sullivan, Christian Tuipulotu and Solomona Faataape in the squad's new intake.

Kevin Walters is the club's new head coach, and he and Starling have worked together before. Starling played under Walters for the Prime Minister's XIII against Papua New Guinea's Prime Minister's XIII, a representative match. Abi Ekoku is the club's chief executive.

Starling will not pull on the red and white until next year. For now, the focus is on how a hooker with eight NRL seasons behind him will fit into a Saints side looking to get back into the play-offs.