The eye is not on the prize …. yet … for Canberra Raiders hooker Tom Starling, but rather on the now.

The Raiders sit on top of the NRL ladder two points clear of the Storm and Bulldogs, ahead of their Round 21 clash against the Newcastle Knights at GIO Stadium on Sunday 27 July.

 “It’s obviously good. It shows what we’ve done for the first part of the season,” he told CD.

“But obviously we’ve got a lot to go. No one remembers who was coming first at Round 21. People remember who was there at the end of the season.

“So, as I mentioned, a lot of football to go, a lot of hard work to go and we’ll batten down here and keep working hard and hopefully keep that top spot.”

This weekend’s match comes exactly a month after the Raiders took on the Knights, beating the team 22-18 in Newcastle.

“There’s been a few games like that we’ve sort of had to double up against teams in quick succession,” Starling told the media.

“It’s always a little bit easier to prepare from because it’s fresh on your mind and you don’t have to cast your mind back too far.

“But we also know it’s pretty tough to beat two teams twice in the year, so it’s a big challenge for us and the stat that Stick (coach Ricky Stuart) spoke to us about is to beat a team twice in the year is tough.

“So, we’ve started off the week with good preparation.”

For prop Corey Horsburgh, when CD asked how everyone was feeling right now at the tail end of the season, he said they had their byes at the right time. The Raiders have their final bye of the 2025 season in mid-August during Round 24.

“We had a big stint early in the year, then we’ve gone out three games between byes (Rounds 15 and 19), so we’re looking pretty good at the moment,” he told CD.

“Hopefully we can just get a bit of luck in staying injury free.”

When asked if this year felt different to 2019 – when the Raiders lost to the Roosters in the Grand Final 8-14 – he said it felt so long ago.

“I think there’s only me [on the interchange], Paps (Josh Papalii) and Taps (current captain Joe Tapine) who’ve played in the Grand Final,” he told the media.

“There were some boys in the squad but it’s a different feel.

“We’ve got a lot of new faces, a lot of boys that have never been in this position, me included. I’ve never been first.

“So, I think we’ve just got to take it week-by-week and just keep playing our style of footy and keep staying hungry.”

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