Peter Sterling set to reject NRL's Clive Churchill Medal presentation request
Parramatta Eels legend Peter Sterling is set to reject the NRL's request for him to present the Clive Churchill Medal on grand final day, because he's on a golf trip.
League bosses stripped Churchill's son Rod of the honour in light of his disparaging remarks about Latrell Mitchell.
Speaking on Nine's 100% Footy on Monday night, Nine reporter Michael Chammas said the NRL planned to overhaul how the medal was presented, and hand the honour to a previous recipient.
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Sterling won the first Clive Churchill Medal in Parramatta's 4-2 win over the Bulldogs in the 1986 grand final – the Eels' latest premiership success.
Peter Sterling is set to reject the NRL's offer to present the Clive Churchill Medal on grand final day. Getty
But Sterling has since revealed the league has yet to contact him about it, and he's unavailable to do so anyway because he's committed to a golf trip on the Central Coast.
"As of Tuesday afternoon, nobody has been in touch and asked me," Sterling told the Sydney Morning Herald.
"Nothing official has come through to me. When it was in the papers this morning, I didn't know about it and my first reaction was that I have plans that weekend.
"I don't want to appear disrespectful but I have stuff in place and that was the case for quite a while. I'm not going to make the grand final and I don't see how that will change.
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"It might be disrespectful when such an honour is expected to be asked of me but, unfortunately, I have plans."
Rod Churchill suggested a former winner present the medal in his place, starting with Stirling and continuing in chronological order.
Cliff Lyons won the second medal in 1987, and Paul Dunn the third in 1988.
Sterling said the plans had been set for some time.
"These commitments have been locked in for a while," Sterling said. "It is only three weeks away. I'll be playing some golf and celebrating with some friends. I'm not going to be in Sydney," he said.
The grand final will be played at Accor Stadium in Sydney on October 1.
