How the NRL’s king of trash talk dragged Marky Mark down into the gutter

5 days ago 6

Ronaldo Mulitalo is still copping an ear-bashing from Paul Gallen after beating him on the wrestle mats.

“But he’s old enough to be my father,” Mulitalo said. “He’s still filthy about losing, but he’s got no business being in there.”

And Sam Burgess’ growled “get the f--- back on your wing” when Mulitalo raced into a melee in his fourth NRL game – and promptly raced straight back out – still makes the Sharks winger giggle.

But which niggling and sledging caught the NRL’s angriest speedster by surprise?

“Marky Mark, man, he got in first the first time we played him this year, and caught me off-guard,” Mulitalo said with a laugh ahead of a box-office one-on-one battle with Roosters star Mark Nawaqanitawase on Saturday night.

“Especially because we’d had a beer together at Magic Round a few weeks earlier. He’s an awesome dude – really cruisy, gentle and well-spoken.

Mark Nawaqanitawase roughs up Ronaldo Mulitalo in Gosford earlier this season.

“And then I swear I was just minding my own business for once [at Gosford in round 12] and then all I could hear was Marky Mark going off at me, calling me out, throwing heaps of chat.

“I’m thinking, ‘Oh, really?’ I couldn’t believe it. Obviously I love that stuff and I think it gets the best out of everyone. He got down and dirty with me and I was loving it.”

Mulitalo came off second best that night in May, saddled with a one-game suspension for a late shot on Nawaqanitawase as the Roosters turned an upset into a genuine trouncing. Baiting the former Wallaby into a sledging match might be a win in itself though considering Nawaqanitawase rarely trash talked in his former code.

Cronulla and Mulitalo had their revenge and then some in a round 20 return bout, with the Roosters code-hopper claiming the Ken Irvine Medal as the NRL’s leading try-scorer since.

Mulitalo “doesn’t give a rats” about Nawaqanitawase’s impressive form or aerial prowess going into Saturday’s elimination final at Shark Park. Which is hardly a surprise given he spent a clash with Melbourne’s Xavier Coates telling the Queensland star “to stop running away from me” each time a cross-field kick looked to be heading their way.

As Cronulla’s antagonist in chief, Mulitalo is regularly approached by punters trying to get a read on one of the game’s great nigglers, and is just as regularly told he’s “actually not the bad a bloke” afterwards.

He’s all for the entertainment value Nawaqanitawase brings with the ball, especially if he adds a verbal or two as well.

“Footy’s meant to be fun,” the 25-year-old said. “If you want to see robots, I don’t know, are we at the point where we can get robots playing rugby league yet? You want to see personality out there, and I’m just being myself when I carry on and get myself going.

“People pay hard-earned money to come and watch us play. It’s our job to entertain and offer some personality. I love it when someone shows their true colours because I’ll be right there giving it to them and showing who I am, too.”

But that comes with a downside, though.

Mulitalo has been vocal about the abuse he and his family have been subjected to on social media for years, and accepts a lot of it stems from his confrontational on-field persona.

He fumes that the “public get more protection than players – if you reply back to abuse, you get in trouble. I don’t get how that works.”

But the Kiwi international was also the 2021 Ken Stephen medal winner for his charity work raising awareness about homelessness – where he takes a lead role with non-profit Stepping Stone House.

“When people try to judge my character based on the way I play or how they think I am, I just laugh,” he said.

“That annoys the hell out of me because there are other players who are nice on the field for 80 minutes, and that’s fine, but they don’t use that platform for good elsewhere.

“I’m not perfect, but I’m not a robot either. And when I get buried six feet under, I know I’ll be happy with my track record, how my family, friends and teammates see me and what I’ve done outside of rugby league.”

NRL is Live and Free on Channel 9 & 9Now.