Tom Starling was Christmas shopping with his Mum when a blocked phone number started flashing on his phone.
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"I thought it might have been a Telstra scam but it was Pete [Mulholland] so I was pretty happy to get that call," Starling said.
Raiders recruitment guru Mulholland had been looking for a back-up number nine ahead of the 2019 season, and recent recruit Hudson Young suggested the fleet-footed Starling would be a perfect fit.
A tick over 18 months later and Starling has been awarded with a two-year contract extension after emerging as one of the game's most exciting young hookers
He scored a try and laid on three more in the win over Cronulla on Saturday. But were it not for Mulholland's call, Starling might still be up on the border plying his trade in the Queensland Cup for the Tweed Seagulls.
After being culled my Newcastle at the end of 2018, he ventured north looking for another opportunity and started training with the Seagulls before former Knights junior teammate Young suggested their might be a vacancy in the capital.
Saying yes to Mulholland was a no brainer. Starling had long idolised Hodgson, and now he had the chance to work with one of the game's best hookers. Less than two months later, another one of his heroes in Michael Ennis joined the coaching staff.
"He used to play with his heart on his sleeve, you either loved or hated him with the way he played and I guess I can draw on that too," Starling said.
"He has to be like that because he's obviously not the biggest hooker out there as well, you've got to have no fear when you're out there as a small hooker.
"He can't come in the bubble [this season] he's got his media commitments. But we talk on the phone before every game about what he reckons I should be doing and we bounce off each other."
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Starling has also formed a tight bond with Hodgson.
"As soon as I came down here he was helping me out with things, from the start of last year, little things in and around playing dummy half and a lot of mentality stuff before the games," Starling said.
"He'll come and speak to me, see how I'm feeling before the game. We'll have a look at video before and after the games.
"I've go two of the best dummy halves to draw off and I've also got Ricky who's one of the best players as well in a halfback role, and one of the best attacking players back in his era.
"I'm licking my lips here just to keep developing my game."
James Buckley
James is a Queanbeyan boy enjoying his second stint at the Canberra Times, more than eight years on from his first. In between he's traveled the world, and spent time covering sport in Sydney.
James is a Queanbeyan boy enjoying his second stint at the Canberra Times, more than eight years on from his first. In between he's traveled the world, and spent time covering sport in Sydney.
