St Helens are set to complete another major piece of transfer business with Tom Starling joining the club from Canberra Raiders – with the hooker teasing the move on his social media.

The Saints have been on the hunt for a new hooker for a number of weeks, ever since Kevin Walters took charge at the club: and they now look set to land their man.

Starling has agreed a release from his deal with Canberra and will head to England on a long-term contract from the start of next season, in a move reported by Code Sports in Australia.

Starling to become a Saint

And the 28-year-old, who has over 150 NRL appearances to his name for the Raiders and has been an integral figure for Ricky Stuart’s side for a number of years, even went a step further on Friday after the news broke.

He took to his Instagram and posted a story with a song Saints fans are well versed with: Annie’s Song by John Denver. It is by no means a guarantee of a move, but it is certainly a strong hint he is the next player heading for England.

He has made 23 appearances in the NRL this season for the Raiders, and has frequently been part of Stuart’s teams ever since joining the club in 2019.

Starling will now come in and compete with Daryl Clark for the starting hooking role, with Tom Humphries also in the mix to feature in 2027.

And his signing takes the Saints a step closer to completing their squad for next year, on the day they announced the arrival of their frontline starting half-back.

Sean O’Sullivan joins St Helens

The Saints confirmed the signing of half-back Sean O’Sullivan on Friday morning – though they did not declare the length of the deal that he has agreed with the club.

“I can’t put it into words just how excited I am to come over and to be coming to a club like St Helens,” he said. “It was a no-brainer for me, and now my family and I can’t wait to get over and be part of the club.”

“With the players at Saints and Kevvie coming in, it made so much footy sense for me to join. I feel like my strengths can really help this group achieve.

“I’ve bumped into Kevvie over in Australia, and once he was announced as the coach, it showed the ambitions of the club. All my talks with him have been super positive, and I know that he and I are going to get on really well, which is a big part of me wanting to come to St Helens, because I think he can help my footy a lot.”