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Peter Sterling has committed to a golf weekend on the Central Coast on the same day as the grand final.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Aaron Brown<\/cite><\/p>\n Rod Churchill accepted the decision but asked the governing body to recognise the history of the award by asking former recipients to present it to the new winner.<\/p>\n The NRL was expected to contact Sterling this week, but the Parramatta legend has told this masthead he won\u2019t be able to attend the grand final due to a prior commitment.<\/p>\n \u201cAs of Tuesday afternoon, nobody has been in touch and asked me,\u201d Sterling said. \u201cNothing official has come through to me. When it was in the papers this morning, I didn\u2019t know about it and my first reaction was that I have plans that weekend.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t want to appear disrespectful but I have stuff in place and that was the case for quite a while. I\u2019m not going to make the grand final and I don\u2019t see how that will change. It might be disrespectful when such an honour is expected to be asked of me but, unfortunately, I have plans.\u201d<\/p>\n Peter Sterling, Rod Churchill and Latrell Mitchell.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Getty<\/cite><\/p>\n The NRL and Churchill family have agreed that Rod will not be on stage at this year\u2019s decider to present the medal named after his father, as he was last year when Dylan Edwards won the award for his role in the Panthers\u2019 triumph over Parramatta.<\/p>\n Rod Churchill requested that the first recipient of the award \u2013 Sterling, who starred in Parramatta\u2019s 4-2 victory over arch-rivals Canterbury in 1986 \u2013 present the medal this year.<\/p>\n Manly legend Cliff Lyons (1987 winner) would then be asked to present the award to the 2024 winner, followed by Canterbury\u2019s Paul Dunn in 2025, Raiders great Bradley Clyde in 2026, and so on.<\/p>\n Sterling\u2019s expected no-show is likely to force the NRL to look towards Lyons to present the award, potentially asking Sterling to present it in 2024.<\/p>\n \u201cThese commitments have been locked in for a while,\u201d Sterling said. \u201cIt is only three weeks away. I\u2019ll be playing some golf and celebrating with some friends. I\u2019m not going to be in Sydney.\u201d<\/p>\n The decision to sever formal ties with the Churchill family on grand final day has been rubber-stamped by the ARL Commission.<\/p>\n The decision comes after a scathing text message criticising Mitchell, sent by Rod Churchill to South Sydney chairman Nick Pappas, became public.<\/p>\n \u201cWhere was the human headline Mitchell tonight Nicholas?\u201d Churchill texted Pappas following Souths\u2019 36-16 loss to Parramatta during Indigenous Round.<\/p>\n Stream the NRL Premiership 2023 live and free on <\/b>9Now<\/b>. <\/b><\/p>\n Sports news, results and expert commentary. <\/i><\/b>Sign up for our Sport newsletter<\/i><\/b>.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Previous Clive Churchill Medal winners (1986-2004)<\/h3>\n
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Previous Clive Churchill Medal winners (2005-2022)<\/h3>\n
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