A two-try comeback performance of effervescent Sharks winger Ronaldo Mulitalo could be the added inspiration for his side to become a consistent force in 2026.<\/p>\n
The energy was immediate when Mulitalo took his first bullocking run in the Sharks 38-16 win over the Bulldogs to kick off Magic Round, showing off the result of the tireless efforts to return from an ACL injury suffered in the 2025 Pacific Championships.<\/p>\n
The 26-year-old credited experience with \u201cseven or eight\u201d surgeries in the past decade \u2013 on shoulders, an ankle, jaw and knees \u2013 for shaping the positive mindset driving a rapid turnaround inside seven months.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had a bad run of injuries when I was younger and I always told myself I wouldn\u2019t be scared anytime I have a big injury,\u201d Mulitalo said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it was my seventh or eighth surgery so that\u2019s nothing different to what I\u2019ve gone through and confident I\u2019m ready anytime I step in.<\/p>\n
\n 599″, “>809”, “>959″]”
\n data-eqio-prefix=”video-post-screen”
\n ref=”root”
\n ><\/p>\n
\n
\n Up Next
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n \/
\n
\n <\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n Replay
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n Play Next
\n
\n
\n <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Mulitalo Magic<\/p>\n
“For me, regardless of the tries it was just about getting the club back into a good spot, but there\u2019s a long way to go. It wasn\u2019t about me, it was about getting a win going into the bye for our coach, that was the main thing.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m always confident in my ability as you probably can tell. I don\u2019t shy away from it, the pressure of the big stage, this is why I play footy, for the big moments, Magic Round, the bright lights.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think if you have a problem with your confidence, you shouldn\u2019t be playing.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs soon as you get worried about how you\u2019re going to come back and how well you\u2019re going to do, you\u2019ve already lost the battle.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n 599″, “>809”, “>959″]”
\n data-eqio-prefix=”video-post-screen”
\n ref=”root”
\n ><\/p>\n
\n
\n Up Next
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n \/
\n
\n <\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n Replay
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n Play Next
\n
\n
\n <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Sharks v Bulldogs – Round 11, 2026<\/p>\n
Mulitalo went under the knife in both shoulders by the time he was 18, but recognising it was something most players go through had served him well in being \u201cfully committed\u201d to every recovery process.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think people are stuck in their heads,\u201d Mulitalo said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you think ahead, think forward, think positive, good things happen.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love my life, I\u2019m grateful for it, I\u2019ve got the best opportunities, good people around me, and I just kept it positive the whole time.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said he was grateful for those who know him best at the Sharks and even new faces to the club \u2013 such as physiotherapist Dean Zalunardo \u2013 knowing what support he needed to put him in the right headspace to tick every box.<\/p>\n
\u201cMan, we got a young guy (Zalunardo) from the Dragons, a physio, he just came in, he hadn\u2019t done a full-time gig before,\u201d Mulitalo said.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo come into the club, his first full-time gig, you\u2019ve got me and Cameron McInnes, ACLs, and you\u2019ve got to bring us back and integrate us into the team.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s done an awesome job so massive wraps to him and Nathan Pickworth, our Head of Performance, he\u2019s done an awesome job of backing me in, knowing me as a person.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not the best at fitness, but I\u2019ll get a job done for you, so it was good.<\/p>\n
\u201cCraig (Fitzgibbon) did an awesome job for me, kept me around the team and staff, \u2018DJ\u2019, Daniel Holdsworth, they didn\u2019t make me feel like an outsider, so I was always part of the team, coming to team games, travelling with the boys, and kept me close.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n 599″, “>809”, “>959″]”
\n data-eqio-prefix=”video-post-screen”
\n ref=”root”
\n ><\/p>\n
\n
\n Up Next
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n \/
\n
\n <\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n Replay
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n Play Next
\n
\n
\n <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Origin Audition: Addin Fonua-Blake<\/p>\n
Mulitalo will be one of a growing list of contenders for the Kiwis line-up at the 2026 Rugby League World Cup, but he said selection would look after itself if he continued to show his best.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think for now it\u2019s about playing good footy, backing myself and that will sort itself out at the end of the year, I\u2019ve got a good relationship with Stacey (Jones, Kiwis coach) as well and if I ever need someone to tell me what to work on, Stacey will be the first one to let me know,\u201d Mulitalo said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe club comes first, they\u2019re the ones who pay my wage and pay for my family house. They\u2019ll always be first. When I do a job for them, they look after me.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A two-try comeback performance of effervescent Sharks winger Ronaldo Mulitalo could be the added inspiration for his side…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":673646,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-673645","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-nrl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/673645","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=673645"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/673645\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/673646"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=673645"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=673645"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=673645"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}