The return of Kurt Baptiste to Canberra has given Raiders hooker Tom Starling a fight for his match-day spot. But it's a challenge the dummy-half says he won't shy away from.
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The Green Machine has turned to 29-year-old Baptiste to help bolster their decimated forward stocks, signing the former Raider on a short-term training contract.
The Papua New Guinea international returns to Canberra for the remainder of the 2020 season and will join the squad once he's cleared the stringent Project Apollo protocols.
The Raiders are also on the verge of signing Gold Coast Titans forward Ryan James on a two-year deal.
Baptiste's arrival provides the Raiders further depth at hooker, with co-captain Josh Hodgson ruled out with a season-ending anterior cruciate ligament injury.
Starling and Siliva Havili have since shared the duties in a dummy-half rotation, with the former averaging 52 minutes in his last three matches off the bench.
Baptiste not only provides injury cover for the one-two combination, but also gives coach Ricky Stuart another option at hooker. The injury to Hodgson means Baptiste is available for selection despite being on a training contract.
Starling says the heightened competition will only strengthen the squad as they push for selection each week.
"I've never shied away from a challenge or a bit of competition. It's healthy to have that in the squad, it keeps everyone on their toes," Starling said.
"It keeps the competition within the team good and gets the best performance out of everyone."
Baptiste was meant to play in the Queensland Cup for the Easts Tigers this year, but those plans were put on hold when the competition was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
He played 56 matches for the Green Machine between 2014 and 2017, and also had stints with the Brisbane Broncos, Sydney Roosters and North Queensland Cowboys.
Starling is excited to learn from the international hooker, who could join his new teammates for the first time at training on Wednesday.
"He's played a lot of first grade so it'll be good to get him around the squad," Starling said.
"I'll be picking his brain apart for sure and what he's got to say about where the game is going and stuff like that. I always like to learn from other dummy-halves so it'll be good to learn from him."
Starling has been named on the interchange bench for Saturday's clash with the ladder-leading Panthers at Penrith Stadium, with Havili to start in the No.9 jersey.
The dummy-half pairing will matchup against Penrith star Apisai Koroisau, who is fourth in the league for defence with 562 tackles.
"He's probably been one of the form hookers of the competition so far," Starling said.
"He's killing it at the moment so it's going to be a real test for our middles to try and contain him. It'll be a good matchup for Siliva and I to see if we can get on top of him."
"There's some really good matchups across the park. It's going to be a really tough game and an exciting one.
"Hopefully we'll get a nice and dry track out there so we can see some good, open footy."
NRL ROUND 13
Saturday: Canberra Raiders v Penrith Panthers at Penrith Stadium, 7.35pm.
Raiders team list: 1. Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, 2. Jordan Rapana, 3. Jarrod Croker, 4. Curtis Scott, 5. Nick Cotric, 6. Jack Wighton, 7. George Williams, 8. Josh Papalii, 9. Siliva Havili, 10. Dunamis Lui, 11. John Bateman, 12. Elliott Whitehead, 13. Hudson Young, 14. Tom Starling, 15. Joe Tapine, 16. Ryan Sutton, 17. Corey Harawira-Naera, 18. Sam Williams 19. Michael Oldfield, 20. Kai O'Donnell, 21. Matt Frawley
Lucie Bertoldo
Lucie Bertoldo is a sports reporter for the Canberra Times.
Lucie Bertoldo is a sports reporter for the Canberra Times.
