NRL: Canberra Raiders' Tom Starling set to launch legal action against NSW Police

Starling and his brothers Josh and Jackson are being represented by Paul McGirr, who is set to sue the NSW Police Force and the individual officers involved in a brawl at a Terrigal nightclub in December 2020, that left Starling battered and bruised.

The Raiders star was slapped with seven charges including assaulting police for the incident.

But last month his name was cleared when magistrate Daniel Covington dismissed all charges after viewing the CCTV footage and claiming Starling was the one "assaulted".

A Law Enforcement Conduct Commission is under way investigating the behaviour of police involved, but McGirr and the Starling brothers did not want to wait until those findings are released.

"There's been some findings made in a local court which has a higher burden of proof than a civil standard," McGirr told The Canberra Times.

"I'm certainly confident there are a number of actions available to the Starling boys in respect to torts, and even possibly malicious prosecution based on the breadth of evidence and the actual footage which severely contradicts what the police said had happened.

"The compensation that we can seek can be significant," McGirr added.

"A lot of times it comes down to a negotiation with the police and the individuals.

"An action hasn't been launched yet, but it can be up to, if not more, than $1 million, but a number of issues have to be addressed including future losses if they actually can be proven."

McGirr said there is a lot of evidence to collect for the case, but he estimates to be ready to launch the legal action within a month.

"It's gotten to the stage where we're not going to wait on what the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission do, or the police force internal investigation," he said.

"We've got our eye on those particular investigations, but it's gotten to the stage that I want to get the ball rolling in respect to a civil action.

"I've told the Starling boys to get on with their lives as best they can. It's not something I want them stressing about."

Starling is set to play for the Raiders in Friday night's game against St George Illawarra in Wollongong.

It should be a swift smash-and-grab for two points for the in-form fifth-placed Raiders, facing the second-last Dragons plagued with on and off-field drama.

Canberra locked in Hudson Young after he was omitted from the Blues for Origin III, and called up Trey Mooney and Peter Hola to replace Pasami Saulo (concussion) and Corey Horsburgh (Origin).

This will be Hola's proper Raiders debut after he did not get off the bench in round 14's match against Wests Tigers.

Meanwhile the Dragons will be without release-seeking Ben Hunt due to Origin, and coming off consecutive heavy losses, the club named their third captain this season in prop Blake Lawrie.

The Raiders have a favourable 23-14 record against the Dragons, including their last meeting in round seven, but the Green Machine's visit to Wollongong last year ended in tears, so they won't be underestimating their opposition.

"It's just a matter of doing our job now," coach Ricky Stuart said.

"We're [effectively] second in the competition [two points behind the ladder-leaders], we've had a very good season so far, so we've got to go down there and be the team that we know we are."

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