It's the double contract news that will hopefully spark the Green Machine's return to the NRL top eight next year.

Starling is close to finalising an extension until the end of 2023, with a mutual option for 2024, which Raiders recruitment boss Peter Mulholland hoped would be finalised by the end of the weekend.

That's on top of discussions looking promising for the Raiders landing Fogarty on a two or three-year deal.

Talks were ongoing over the 27-year-old's release from the Gold Coast Titans, where he's contracted until the end of 2023.

The Titans have agreed to let their co-captain go, but the details were still to be finalised.

While Fogarty played 21 games at halfback for Gold Coast this season, including their semi-final against the Sydney Roosters, he was at risk of slipping behind 20-year-old Toby Sexton in the playmaker pecking order.

That had him keen to switch to Canberra, where the Raiders are looking to cover the loss of No.7 George Williams - who returned to England halfway through the season due to homesickness.

Raiders coach Ricky Stuart said while there was plenty of interest in a new halfback, he wanted to make sure they also did the right thing by their current players as well.

Starling emerged as a dangerous option out of dummy half before a broken jaw ended his season in round 22.

"There's a lot of comment at the moment in regards to new recruits and we're busy with that," Stuart told The Canberra Times.

"It's important to look after our own first and I believe Tommy Starling is warranted of an upgrade and an extension.

"Peter's been working hard at that over the last month."

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Starling was already contracted until the end of 2022, but that's now been extended until potentially 2024.

There's been rumours Raiders hooker Josh Hodgson, who's also contracted until the end of next year, could be part of a player swap for Fogarty, but that's not the case.

This year Hodgson and Starling formed a dynamic hooking duo, with Starling starting on the bench and then Hodgson shifting to a ball-playing-lock role when the 23-year-old came on.

"We're still working through the Fogarty stuff and we're just trying to get a resolution there as quick as we can," Mulholland said.

"But our priority's Tommy Starling, we've got to get him upgraded and extended, and hopefully I'll have that done over the weekend."

Fogarty's been brought in to steer the Green Machine around the park as the organising halfback, which will hopefully allow Jack Wighton to do what he does best - be a damaging ball runner.

Wighton struggled to be the same game-breaker he was in 2020 when he won the Dally M Medal.

He'll also help bolster the Raiders' leadership stocks following the retirement of Sia Soliola and the moving on of Dunamis Lui and Ryan James.

The Raiders have been linked with every playmaker that was off-contract - and some that weren't - including Shaun Johnson, Ash Taylor and Mitchell Pearce.

"We've fielded a tentative offer - it's only verbal at the moment - we're working through it and he wants to come to Canberra," Mulholland said.

"We've just got to negotiate our way through his release."

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