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Peter Sterling left rugby league for good late last year after over 40 years in the game as both a player and a pundit – and has said that the rule changes played a role in his decision to hang up the mic.
Speaking on The Bye Round podcast with James Graham, the Parramatta legend said that he was happy to call time when he did, and that the regular grind of week-to-week NRL had caught up with him, especially in 2021.
“It had actually started to feel like work at little bit,” he told Graham. “I watched eight games every weekend for 30 years. That’s a lot of footy.
“I probably got a little bit footyed out, and I must admit, the game has become a little bit harder to watch than it had been. The changes that have come in haven’t sat that comfortably with me.”
He also revealed that a health scare had prompted him to rethink his priorities.
“It’s a decision that I’ve not thought twice about at all. I was ready for it on a number of different fronts.
“I got to the stage where I had a couple health things that presented themselves and made me think,” said Sterling.
“If I’d got a bad phone call, which I didn’t thank goodness, it was something that wasn’t a problem, it made me think: I’m 62, what do I need to prioritise now?
“That was my family and other things that I wanted to do. That’s travel, and playing golf whenever I wanted to.
“I know that sounds pretty selfish and whatever, but I got to the stage in my life where, physically, I realise that I have 10 or 15 good years left and I want to utilise them the best that I possibly can.
“With that whole combination of things, it brought it down that the time was right. I haven’t second guessed that at all because I love every day and I’m looking forward to the next.”
Sterlo also let loose on what it was like working next to Paul Vautin on The Footy Show, and how off piste his co-host could take it at times.
“It was fairly laid back,” laughed Sterlo. “Before the first show, they sat Fatty Vautin down and said “here’s the script”. Fatty said “no, we’ve never really worked with a script”.
“They said “there’s the autocue” and he said “nah…we’ve never really used an autocue”.So you just made it up as you went along to a large degree. Obviously, you had a theme to run through, but it went off in its own direction.
“The thing about live television – it’s a wonderous beast. It’s dangerous, because there’s no safety net, and we got into trouble numerous times, but it’s exciting. It’s thrilling, because you’re on the edge.
“I was the more serious one the whole way through and Fatty, he was the show. I was the sidekick.
“He threw once to a swimming competition and he said “The Pacman Games are on this week” and I said “Paul, they’re the the Pan-Pacifics” and he said “They’re on in Brisbane” and I said “actually they’re on in Sydney” and we just continued on.
“That’s how it worked: I was his Tonto to the Lone Ranger.”