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A massive part of that rise has been the attack.

The offloads, the support play, the Green Machine is now a green tsunami when points are on offer.

In the stats, the Raiders lead the linebreaks with 115, post contact metres with 12,375 and their tackle break number sits at 748.

For offloads, the Tigers sit above them by one on 231.

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A look back at last season shows the Raiders were down the bottom when it came to attack. Finishing in ninth on the ladder overall, there were just 474 points scored by them.

Only the Knights and Tigers were below them for points scored and now looking at this season, the Raiders are second behind Melbourne.

A big reason behind that?

“Our next attack coach Justin Giteau (brother of rugby great Matt), I have to give a massive pat on the back, because he’s really shaped our attack to what we needed and our style of play,” Starling said.

“He’s been massive for us, the detail that he’s given us. I know our attack probably looks pretty flamboyant, but there is a lot of structure to it and then when we play off the back of that structure that creates the opportunities for Ethan Strange, Kaeo Weekes, Seb Kris and Matt Timoko out there.”

Starling mentions Strange and Weekes more than once in this interview.

Both men were emerging stars last year but now made a name for themselves as some of the best in their positions. Strange is on the verge of Kangaroos selection.

“We saw what they were capable of doing in training and in pre-season training,” he said.

“We had a glimpse of it last year with that being pretty much their first rookie season, and we needed them to step up into a role and they have and they’ve been killing it for us.”

What about Strange and the representative discussion? Did Starling see this coming so quickly?

“For sure, mate, we’ve seen the talent that he had and the capabilities he had, you can train really well, but you’ve got to transfer that into the field and he has,” he said.

“I think it’s just his demand for the football and he wants the footy in his hand, which is what you want out of your star playmaker and in the big moments in the game he stands up and gets the ball in his hands, so that’s what you want.

“We definitely could see it. He’s got the talent and he’s got the work ethic to do it … but he’s still got a long way to go in what he can achieve, which is scary because he’s a talented kid and he’s see what he’s doing at the minute but he’s still got a lot of way to go because he can be a real talent in the NRL.”

But when it comes to a successful club, there’s what happens on the field, and what happens off the field.

The comradery between the Raiders has been obvious … apart from a playful inflatable baseball fight in Las Vegas. That hardly set any records for scandal of the year.

Starling says the history of the Raiders is implemented by kit man Brett Dickson, with the help of the popular interactive quiz game, Kahoot.

“He knows every Raiders number,” he said.

“He knows who it belongs to and in the pre-season we get quizzed on it every Wednesday about our past and he does a Kahoot and if you get it wrong, he gives you a bit of a mouthful about how many premierships and everything we’ve won … the history is something that we cherish down there.

“We’ve always had that team in the 90s that was so dominant and we’ve had some great players along the way and and an Immortal and and our Hall of Fame is cherished down there.

“We’re speaking about being the next (famous side) down there, we want to be the next team that hangs the banner up in Canberra and we want to try and get as many players as we can in the Raiders Hall of Fame in this current playing squad.”

But on the horizon is the Raiders’ biggest challenge.

Currently the minor premiership is there for the taking with four rounds left. Then will come a path to the grand final.

In previous years, Canberra has been the underdog. Now the club is the hunted. And that’s how the playing group likes it.

“I think it’s the title you want,” Starling said.

“You want teams aiming up to you every week because you’re at the top of the ladder and they want to come up and try and knock you off the top of the ladder, off the pedestal.

“So it’s everything you want to be in the team and I think it creates the best and gets the best out of you and your team.

“You’ve got to prepare every week like it’s a semi-final game because it is, you know, teams are bringing their A games here.

“It’s exciting for us and for the development of us is to keep handling that with professionalism and attacking each week with that attitude of they’re coming to knock us off.”