Siliva Havili backs Canberra Raiders' Tom Starling to get back on track

Havili's shifted to South Sydney on a two-year deal in search of greater opportunities after falling behind Starling and Josh Hodgson in the hooking order.

Ironically, those opportunities could have come staying in Canberra with Hodgson in talks with Wests Tigers.

That move could be put on hold though, with Starling facing charges of threatening a potential witness and offensive behaviour from an alleged incident in Terrigal last weekend.

Havili had some off-field troubles in his past before putting them behind him with his move to Canberra, where he played 80 of his 104 NRL games over the past four seasons - but just 11 this year.

He said being an NRL player meant you had to be careful during the off-season.

"Tommy's a good kid," Havili said.

"We're not like the normal public where we can go unnoticed. A lot of things do happen and then the next day the story's out.

"But it's not good for the club and every club's at the stage of hoping no one makes a mistake in this off-season, especially to the brand of the game and the club itself.

"But I know Tommy will be better for it, come good, and he'll have all the support of the boys."

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Havili was caught by surprise by Hodgson's potential shift to Wests on a two-year deal.

He said there was interest from the Raiders for him to stick around, but the Tongan international felt he needed to move to get more opportunities and he was excited by the prospect.

Even if that meant being behind Australian dummy half Damien Cook.

Even if that meant swapping the Canberra lifestyle he's fallen in love with for a Sydney one he's not overly fond of.

He expected to have a similar role to the one he had for the Green Machine - hooking when needed, or adding punch through the middle at lock.

The 28-year-old has played for Rabbitohs new coach Jason Demetriou before, winning the NSW Cup and the NRL State Championship with the Illawarra Cutters in 2016.

"I spoke to the club mid-season and there was opportunity to stay, but ... in all honesty I was a bit out of favour with Tommy Starling and Josh Hodgson coming through," Havili said.

"That's just the way footy is. Tommy's been playing really well and especially with Hodgey being a role model and senior [leader] in our team it's always going to be hard for me to make the team.

"Hodgey's always going to be one of the greats of the Raiders' modern era."