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.”
Tim Buck 3
Roar Rookie
Peter Sterling could do long passes and short kicks with great precision so he had no need for the bomb. The mid air contest for the ball is the easy way of scoring a try or getting the ball back after a set of six. The bomb is the easiest way to score a try and it encourages safe play to get into scoring position for a bomb. Bumping the legs of a player in the air can be dangerous. There would be no danger if bombs were made illegal. That could be done by allowing a field goal as the only way to score on the sixth tackle.
Bernie
Roar Rookie
Yep, the 12th man level Darrell hype just to make it worse.
criag
Roar Rookie
Psaltis is ok, probably their best. But there is a real Darell Eastlake to a lot of the commentators now. They should save their excited voice until something exciting actually happens.
criag
Roar Rookie
Sterlo must've read my comments once. The day after I wrote that there is a needless obsession with speeding up the game, he wrote an article about how it was plenty fast and didn't need speeding up....smart fella, that! Now, instead of having creativity most of the time, it's just play the ball before the other team can get properly onside.
JennyFromPenny
Guest
His mid-second half forecasts were so accurate, albeit, he just needed to say "next try wins".
Griffo 09
Roar Rookie
Honestly I thinkt he 6-again rule is good, with the tweaks they've made this year to reduce exploitation. It's generally a better punishment for teams that deliberately infringe.
Kent Dorfman
Roar Rookie
one bloke who i think is always overlooked in the backline was Paul Taylor at FB, maybe with the blonde locks he looked too much like Sterlo.
Kent Dorfman
Roar Rookie
Mr Perpetual Motion - still my all time fave player (league or union). despite being a scrawny winger / FB, I admire the blokes who do the hard yards week in week out. Read how he terrorized the Poms in rugby running at the 5/8 where he stood more than 20 meters from the scrum half - wish i could see that on tape. Their team in the 80's had it all - no nonsense forward pack and a fantastic backline. Parra haven't won a GF since Pricey hung up his boots, wonder if he can wash the mud off them and go round for another year?
Noosa Duck
Roar Rookie
Snowy How hard is it to fix just slow down the ruck & play the ball Held........Clear the ruck......mark up ......ok play the ball. Not this rubbish of playing the ball on the head of the bloke that just tackled you. Th actual rules of Rugby league state you must not play the ball until the ruck is clear. However you will not find that in the "NRL interpretations " mate we no longer play to the actual rules you and I would have played by .....it's their own set of rules .....wrong rules too
Noosa Duck
Roar Rookie
Kent, it was one hell of a team for sure and even as a Roosters supporter I still admired that Parra team. When you have a team that good and not a "big head ego" amoung them how could you not admire them. Ray Price was a neighbour down the road ay Georges Hall. He was a bloody nice bloke
Kent Dorfman
Roar Rookie
I love his analysis "Wow"....."Wow"...................."Wow" - yeah we heard u the 1st time
Heyou
Roar Rookie
Goulash is maddening and self involved but he does make great sense sometimes. Sometimes I agree with him even when I don’t want to. Messiah complex? Yeah :boxing:
Michael
Guest
What about the punters who have given up their hard earned to the betting company sponsors when the bunker, after interfering, has made wrong calls. And there have been quite a few of those. Far too many, in fact.
Heyou
Roar Rookie
I can’t give the game away as much as I’d sometimes like to. It’s changing almost beyond recognition and the person with the whistle has lost control, through no fault of their own as you say. I prefer the international rules of yesteryear. I understand that game and enjoy that game. Park footy is still very enjoyable to watch. Women’s footy is still enjoyable to watch. NRL footy is frustrating and frenetic at times, inclined to be over adjudicated or under adjudicated depending on the day, the team, the ref and the bunker guy. I find myself tuning into the radio for a decent call and doing crosswords during the blowouts and blowups and inconsistencies ( yeah yeah nothing to be done about that apparently - accept it or bow out like the dinosaur I am.) Peter was my go to guy in the modern era whenever I could get tv reception. I miss him and wish him all the very best.
Bernie
Roar Rookie
ok. can't say i've noticed. compared to Matt Thompson down here, Psaltis is the "whispering" ted lowe of Ch9.
Tim J
Roar Rookie
I totally agree Tom, the stoppages are ruining both Codes.
Noel
Roar Rookie
The damnable shame is that Disco Biscuits Johns actually does excellent play-by-play analysis when he's not being 'funny' with Freddy, or having a sook. If they kept him over by the big screen with only one job to do, I reckon he would do it really well... It's that genuine analysis that is lacking in Sterlo's wake...
Noel
Roar Rookie
And therein lies the rub... If Sterlo was going to be in the commentary box, he was going to need to prepare properly, and not wing it. It's not just the game day commitment for a professional. For my two cents, Andrew Moore is by far the best NRL/Sport commentator in the business. His preparation is excellent, his knowledge is vast and his enthusiasm is infectious.
Tom G
Roar Rookie
Unfortunately the rule makers don’t seem to understand either game. The interminable stoppages for replays is a massive turn off for fans
Snoopy011
Guest
If you think Psaltis is too Broncos biased, how would you rate Fittler on Roosters games, Alexander on Penrith games and Anasta's commentary on any club from outside Sydney. Any of them make Psaltis look extremely fair. Yes he is from Brisbane but he is no where near as bad as the others.