Parramatta has won four premierships since they entered the competition in 1947 and all four of those contained the same halfback, Peter Sterling.

Sterlo made his debut off the bench in Round 18, 1978 and by 1981 he was one of the premier halfbacks in the game, eventually rising to the best and widely regarded as one of the greatest ever in the game’s history.

In Round 3 of the 1992 season, Sterling was helped off the field just half an hour into Parramatta’s game against the Magpies, with a recurrence of a shoulder injury which had been reconstructed just a year ago. A few days later a teary Sterling announced his retirement from the game in a very emotional press conference.

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Sterling finished his career having played 228 games for Parramatta, 221 of which were at halfback, of which he won 63.35% of games, including four premierships.

Ever since, Parramatta has tried desperately hard to fill his immense shoes, with many halfbacks tried and tested, but none managing to do as Sterling did and lead the Eels to a premiership.

In those 26 years since, Parramatta has used 35 different halfbacks. Only three sides have used more over the same period of time: Souths (43), Penrith and the Roosters (36).

Surprisingly, not one of those 35 players have played more than 71 games in the No.7 jumper. Tim Smith and Chris Sandow have both started in 71 games as halfback, with Jeff Robson the only other Eel since Sterling retired to have played more than 50 games in the No.7 jumper. He played 52 games.

They’ve had 14 players with less than 10 games at halfback. Just eight more players have played between 10 and 20 games.

Eight of the 35 halfbacks since Sterlo have managed a better winning record, but none of them played any more than 35 games in the halfback role. They are:

Troy Pezet – 3 games, 3 wins – 100% James Webster – 1 game, 1 win – 100%

Luke Burt – 1 game, 1 win – 100%

Jason Taylor – 26 games, 20 wins, 1 draw, 5 losses – 76.92%

Kieran Foran – 8 games, 6 wins, 2 losses – 75%

Jeremy Smith – 10 games, 7 wins, 3 losses – 70%

PJ Marsh – 15 games, 10 wins, 1 draw, 4 losses – 66.67%

David Penna – 35 games – 23 wins, 12 losses – 65.71%

Peter Sterling – 221 games, 140 wins, 4 draws, 77 losses – 63.35%

Prior to the debut of Sterling, Parramatta had played 637 games, winning 37.36% of games. During the Sterling era Parramatta won an immensely better 59.40% and since he retired, they’ve scored 46.19% of games won from the 656 played.

Trying to replace someone like Peter Sterling is a near impossibility, as Parramatta has proven. However, the Eels haven’t really persevered with any halfbacks since he retired. Given they haveappeared in just 2 grand finals since, while 15 of their seasons since has seen them finish in 10th place or lower on the ladder.

Their most recent halfback acquisition, Mitchell Moses, has played 32 games, winning 43.75% of his games in the No.7 jumper. Parramatta’s history suggests that he may only get another season and a half worth of games at halfback before he gets discarded for the next option.

Will Parramatta stick with him?