Peter Maxwell John Sterling OAM (born 16 June 1960), nicknamed Sterlo, is an Australian former rugby league commentator, television personality and player.
He was one of the all-time great halfbacks and a major contributor to Parramatta Eels' dominance of the New South Wales Rugby League premiership in the 1980s.
Sterling compensated for a lack of size and pace with control and organisational skills that allowed Parramatta's all-star back line of Brett Kenny, Mick Cronin, Steve Ella and Eric Grothe a great deal of ball.
[citation needed] Sterling joined the Parramatta Eels in 1978, making his first appearance as a Fullback during the 1978 finals series, in the 17–11 minor semi-final replay loss to eventual premiers Manly.
He was ultimately selected over his long-time rival for the NSW halfback spot, Canterbury-Bankstown's Steve Mortimer who had debuted for Australia in their two-Test series win over France only weeks before the Origin game.
He was named man-of-the-match in Game 2 of the State of Origin series at the SCG, a game which saw the NSW side host an almost all-Parramatta backline, with Neil Hunt and Eric Grothe (wings), Mick Cronin and Steve Ella (centres) and Sterling and Brett Kenny (halves), while the Blues, who defeated Queensland 10–6, were also captained by Eels Lock forward Ray Price.
Sterling was then overlooked for the home Ashes series against Great Britain in 1984, but would still go on to win the Rugby League Week Player of the Year award for the first time.
In the 1984 Grand Final, Sterling and longtime halves partner Brett Kenny had few opportunities against Mortimer's Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs whose forwards dominated the Eels pack and gave the star pairing little room to move.
He also miss his chance to regain his test place for the mid-season tour of New Zealand in 1985, with the halfback role shared between Mark Murray and Manly's versatile utility Des Hasler.
While playing for Hull in the early part of 1985, Sterling led the team, which also included a number of internationals such as; fullback Gary Kemble, wingers Dane O'Hara and James Leuluai and his halves partner Fred Ah Kuoi (all NZ), centre Garry Schofield (GB), Parramatta second-rower John Muggleton (Aus), and goal kicking forward (and Hull captain) Lee Crooks (GB), into the 1985 Challenge Cup Final.
's 24–28 defeat by Wigan in the final at Wembley Stadium, London on Saturday 4 May 1985, in front of a crowd of 99,801,[5] in what is regarded as the most marvellous cup final in living memory,[6] which Hull narrowly lost after fighting back from 12–28 down at half-time, with Sterling's Parramatta halves partner Brett Kenny (playing for Wigan) was voted man of the match winning the Lance Todd Trophy.
1986 saw Sterling almost carry a clean sweep of the major awards – except the Rothmans Medal – and win the inaugural Clive Churchill Medal in Parramatta's fourth Grand Final victory, reversing the 1984 result with a 4–2 win over Canterbury-Bankstown to send the retiring Mick Cronin and team captain Ray Price out as premiership winners.
1986 also saw the Parramatta with their own home ground for the first time since over-excited fans had burned down the old Cumberland Oval grandstand during the 1981 Grand Final celebrations.
He made a guest appearance in 2007 on the first episode for the year to say farewell to the show before coming back for a short stint in 2010 as alternating host.
Sterling joined Triple M in March 2010 as an expert commentator on Monday Night Football and is an occasional panellist on Dead Set Legends and The Rush Hour.
In March 2013, Sterling began hosting a weekly NRL show on Fox Sports called 'Sterlo; airing on Thursday nights.