The Tackle: Cronulla Sharks star Ronaldo Mulitalo walking fine line with fiery on-field antics

Ronaldo Mulitalo is quickly becoming the man that NRL fans love to hate. His coach will tell you his behaviour is just ‘passion’, but the Sharks star is walking a fine line between competitive fire and outright provocation. THE TACKLE

Cronulla’s Ronaldo Mulitalo is the nicest man in rugby league, until he isn’t.

He is a true Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, and quickly becoming the man that NRL fans love to hate.

Mulitalo was at his menacing best in Saturday’s win against Melbourne but arguably got away with far more than what referee Adam Gee should have allowed.

The fiery winger got into the face of Storm flyer Xavier Coates on Saturday night at every chance he got. Fair game.

What wasn’t fair was his actions late in the game where he rushed over to Ryan Papenhuyzen, who had spilt the ball as a result of a high shot by Sifa Talakai, and stood over him sparking a melee.

Rushing in to escalate an incident normally results in a penalty, even a sin bin.

But Gee let Mulitalo get away with it.

Ronaldo Mulitalo gets up in the face of Xavier Coates

Ronaldo Mulitalo getting on Melbourne's nerves again

Cronulla’s win over Melbourne makes it easy to excuse Ronaldo’s antics as “passion”, the word coach Craig Fitzgibbon used after the game.

But a loss would have left the coach, and Sharks fans, with cause to examine his behaviour.

Earlier in the year, the NRL promised it would crackdown on players feigning injury to gain an advantage.

Mulitalo is lucky that match officials haven’t had the nerve to pull players up on ‘milking’ in recent weeks.

Mulitalo isn’t the first player, and won’t be the last, to try and earn their side any leg-up possible.

But in a tackle with Stefano Utoikamanu, late in the second half, he immediately was seen clutching at his head when Utoikamanu arm grazed the side of Mulitalo’s head.

Was this a high shot on Ronaldo Mulitalo?

Off the field, Mulitalo pours his energy into worthy causes, like helping to raise money for the homeless.

On it, he is the antithesis of the way in which Fitzgibbon went about his business during his playing days, all heart but no carry on.

“I’m a Shark Supporter. I believe Cronulla were the better team. I also believe Ronaldo needs to pull his head in,” one Cronulla fan said on social media.

Do you think Ronaldo Mulitalo needs to reconsider his actions on the field? Picture: Brendon Thorne/Getty Images

While Fitzgibbon won’t be as crude in the assessment of Mulitalo’s behaviour, no doubt the coach is likely to remind him that he is walking a fine line.

Especially in a tight contest like Saturday night, where the game was in the balance.

Across town Canterbury coach Cameron Ciraldo never put Reed Mahoney’s so called ‘grubby’, in your face tactics on notice publicly but there was plenty of speculation that internally his on-field antics were a cause for concern.

Mahoney has been on his best behaviour in recent weeks, and it hasn’t taken away from his contributions or effort.

The Bulldogs hooker has let his football do all the talking.

Mulitalo could do worse than borrow a leaf from Mahoney’s book.

Originally published as The Tackle: Cronulla Sharks star Ronaldo Mulitalo walking fine line with fiery on-field antics