{"id":138349,"date":"2021-10-03T08:37:34","date_gmt":"2021-10-03T08:37:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=138349"},"modified":"2021-10-03T18:00:23","modified_gmt":"2021-10-03T18:00:23","slug":"sharks-gun-wins-nrl-gong-after-origin-fiasco","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=138349","title":{"rendered":"Sharks gun wins NRL gong after Origin fiasco"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cronulla<\/a> star Ronaldo Mulitalo has taken out this year's Ken Stephen Medal in acknowledgement of his tremendous work in the community.<\/p>\n

The medal was presented at Brisbane's Suncorp Stadium ahead of the NRL grand final<\/a>, by 2020 Ken Stephen Medal winner Connor Watson<\/a> and rugby league Immortal Wally Lewis<\/a>.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> 'I could have died': Sonny Bill Williams opens up on drugs and partying in new book<\/a><\/p>\n

Mulitalo was crowned the 33rd<\/sup> Ken Stephen medallist, ahead of finalists Cody Walker<\/a>, Jamal Fogarty and Ryan Matterson.<\/p>\n

Mulitalo helped deliver the NRL<\/a>'s Voice Against Violence and League Bilong Laif programs in schools during his time in Papua New Guinea, while he was also invaluable in his support of children with disabilities, participating in the Sharks All Abilities school program and the Skillz4me program.<\/p>\n

\"Ronaldo<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Peter Sterling shares emotional message as 30-year TV career comes to an end<\/a><\/p>\n

His own childhood circumstances drove him to become an ambassador for Stepping Stone House charity, focusing on providing youth with a safe home and educational and employment opportunities.<\/p>\n

The award is a huge punctuation mark at the end of a season that didn't go fully to plan for the Sharks winger, after he was rubbed out of State of Origin controversially due to an eligibility fiasco<\/a>.<\/p>\n

NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo<\/a> paid tribute to Mulitalo and the other nominees.<\/p>\n

"Ronaldo has endured many challenges in his journey, but his passion to give back and his genuine commitment to the community spans multiple countries and programs. He has made a real difference to several communities,'' Abdo said.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Backstories and controversies behind all the Clive Churchill Medal winners of the NRL era<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Ronaldo<\/p>\n

"From the work he did with the Sharks community by offering groceries, supplies and support to staff members during the COVID-19 pandemic, to the support of Fine Kula through his battle with brain cancer.<\/p>\n

"He has a genuine passion for doing good. On behalf of everyone in the game, I congratulate Ronaldo for earning the Ken Stephen Medal in 2021 through his positive actions."<\/p>\n

The Veronica White Medal will be awarded in alignment with the NRLW season in early 2022.<\/p>\n

For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by<\/strong><\/em> clicking here!<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cronulla star Ronaldo Mulitalo has taken out this year's Ken Stephen Medal in acknowledgement of his tremendous work in the community. The medal was presented […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138349"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=138349"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138349\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":138351,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138349\/revisions\/138351"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=138349"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=138349"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=138349"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}