Sterling compensated for a lack of size and pace with control and organisational skills that allowed Parramatta's all-star back line of
Brett Kenny,
Mick Cronin,
Steve Ella and
Eric Grothe a great deal of ball. His kicking, backed up by Kenny and
Ray Price's superb chasing, often gave Parramatta an advantage in territory. His fast mind meant that he rarely made a wrong decision.. He was an effective defender who rarely missed tackles, and was often in position to secure a loose ball. Sterling joined the
Parramatta Eels in 1978, making his first appearance as a during the
1978 finals series, in the 17–11 minor semi-final
replay loss to eventual premiers
Manly. After a few games at in
1979, Sterling shifted to halfback and established himself as a player to watch in
1980. 1981 saw the
Jack Gibson-coached Eels win their first
Grand Final with a 20–11 win over the
Tommy Raudonikis-led
Newtown Jets, with Sterling's superb skill and control one of the decisive factors. He made his State of Origin début for NSW in the
1981 State of Origin game, setting up a try for Mick Cronin, though the
Wally Lewis-captained
Queenslanders turned a ten-point half time deficit into a seven-point, 22–15 win. Sterling himself admitted he was a surprise choice for NSW as he had only made his representative début a few weeks earlier when he played for City Seconds and rated himself as fifth in line for the NSW job. He was ultimately selected over his long-time rival for the NSW halfback spot,
Canterbury-Bankstown's
Steve Mortimer who had debuted for
Australia in their two-Test series win over
France only weeks before the Origin game. In
1982, Parramatta could seemingly do no wrong, winning the minor premiership by four games over Manly. Though they were beaten 20–0 by Manly in the major semi-final, the Eels then thrashed
Eastern Suburbs 33–0 in the preliminary final, before going on to turn the tables on the Sea Eagles with a 21–8 victory in the Grand Final at the
Sydney Cricket Ground to win their second successive premiership. Sterling was then chosen for the
1982 Kangaroo tour, and along with Queensland halfback
Mark Murray was back-up to incumbent Test halfback Mortimer, despite having not played in the
1982 State of Origin series. After travelling with part of the team to
Perth to face a
Western Australian team and thus missing a place in Australia's first ever Test against
Papua New Guinea, Sterling was presented a golden opportunity by coach
Frank Stanton when he was chosen for the first game of the tour against
English club side
Hull Kingston Rovers. Sterling went about cementing his place in the Kangaroos’ "A" side and went on to make his Test début for Australia in the first
Ashes Test against
Great Britain at
Boothferry Park in
Hull. The 1982 Kangaroos went on to become the first team to go through Great Britain and France undefeated, earning them the nickname
"The Invincibles", and was a personal success for Sterling who played in all five Tests against Great Britain and
France, and cemented his place as the world's best halfback. In 1983, Sterling played in Australia's win in the first Test against
New Zealand at
Carlaw Park in
Auckland, but wasn't selected for Australia's shock 12–19 second Test loss at
Lang Park when Murray was preferred. He was named man-of-the-match in Game 2 of the
State of Origin series at the SCG, a game which saw the NSW side host an almost all-Parramatta backline, with
Neil Hunt and Eric Grothe (wings), Mick Cronin and Steve Ella (centres) and Sterling and Brett Kenny (halves), while the Blues, who defeated Queensland 10–6, were also captained by Eels forward Ray Price. Sterling then helped Parramatta to a third successive
Grand Final win with an 18–6 win, again over runaway minor premiers Manly. Following his third successive premiership and his fifth overall, Jack Gibson, a man Peter Sterling held high praise for as both a person and a coach, shocked the establishment and resigned as Parramatta coach. Following the 1982
Kangaroo Tour, Sterling had been highly sought after by English clubs and he went on to play for
Hull F.C. in the
1983–84 English season. Sterling played , and was
man of the match in winning the
White Rose Trophy with a 29–12 victory over
Hull Kingston Rovers in the
1984 Yorkshire Cup Final during the
1984–85 season at Boothferry Park, Hull, on Saturday 27 October 1984. He was then chosen for Game 1 of the
1984 State of Origin series, but lost his place to Steve Mortimer for the rest of the series. Sterling was then overlooked for the home Ashes series against Great Britain in 1984, but would still go on to win the
Rugby League Week Player of the Year award for the first time. In the
1984 Grand Final, Sterling and longtime halves partner Brett Kenny had few opportunities against Mortimer's Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs whose forwards dominated the Eels pack and gave the star pairing little room to move. The narrow 6–4 loss to the Bulldogs ended the
John Monie-coached Parramatta's bid for a fourth successive premiership. Sterling did not play for Parramatta, in the first half of
1985 as he returned to England to again link with Hull. Peter Sterling played in Hull F.C.'s 0–12 defeat by Hull Kingston Rovers in the
1984–85 John Player Special Trophy Final during the
1984–85 season at Boothferry Park, Hull on Saturday 26 January 1985. Though he was relatively quiet upon his return to Parramatta, at the end of the season Sterling's skill allowed Parramatta to defeat
Balmain (twice, the second a 32–4 win in the Minor-Semi) and
Penrith (Minor Preliminary-Semi), to move from doubtful finalists to the Preliminary Final – where a ruthless Canterbury side on their way to a second successive premiership, easily accounted for the Eels 26–0. As a result of his decision to play in England and miss the first part of the NSWRL premiership, Sterling lost his place in the NSW side in the
1985 State of Origin series to Steve Mortimer, who led the Blues to their first ever series win over Queensland. He also miss his chance to regain his test place for the mid-season tour of New Zealand in 1985, with the halfback role shared between Mark Murray and Manly's versatile utility
Des Hasler. By missing both Origin and Test selection in 1985, Sterling missed the opportunity to link with the coach who gave him his first grade début at Parramatta
Terry Fearnley, who coached both representative teams. While playing for Hull in the early part of 1985, Sterling led the team, which also included a number of internationals such as; fullback
Gary Kemble, wingers
Dane O'Hara and
James Leuluai and his halves partner
Fred Ah Kuoi (all NZ), centre
Garry Schofield (GB), Parramatta second-rower
John Muggleton (Aus), and goal kicking forward (and Hull captain)
Lee Crooks (GB), into the
1985 Challenge Cup Final. Sterling played in Hull F.C.'s 24–28 defeat by
Wigan in the final at
Wembley Stadium,
London on Saturday 4 May 1985, in front of a crowd of 99,801, in what is regarded as the most marvellous cup final in living memory, which Hull narrowly lost after fighting back from 12–28 down at half-time, with Sterling's Parramatta halves partner Brett Kenny (playing for Wigan) was voted
man of the match winning the
Lance Todd Trophy. Sterling, who produced a great game in both attack and defence, had gone into the game as one of the shortest priced favourites to win the Lance Todd Trophy, with bookmakers in Hull allegedly (according to
BBC commentator
Ray French during the telecast of the Cup Final) refusing to field any more bets on Sterling in the week leading up to the game. 1986 saw Sterling almost carry a clean sweep of the major awards – except the
Rothmans Medal – and win the inaugural
Clive Churchill Medal in Parramatta's fourth
Grand Final victory, reversing the 1984 result with a 4–2 win over Canterbury-Bankstown to send the retiring Mick Cronin and team captain Ray Price out as premiership winners. 1986 also saw the Parramatta with their own home ground for the first time since over-excited fans had burned down the old
Cumberland Oval grandstand during the 1981 Grand Final celebrations. Between 1982 and 1985 the club was forced to play home games at Canterbury-Bankstown's home ground, the
Belmore Sports Ground, but in 1986 the new
Parramatta Stadium was opened by
Queen Elizabeth II and Sterling set about making the venue his own personal playground. During the year he was also part of the NSW Team which swept Qld 3–0 in the
State of Origin series (the first time in series history a team had won all three games), winning man of the match in Game 2 at the SCG. After regaining his test place in the successful two test series against New Zealand, Sterling was an automatic selection for his second
Kangaroo tour at the end of the season, this time going away as the undisputed number one halfback with 1985 test halfback Des Hasler. Sterling won The Rothman's medal in 1987 and 1990 but only featured in one match of The 1991 season after suffering a shoulder injury. He returned to the field in 1992, but his shoulder was injured again after being hit in a hard tackle by Western Suburbs player
David Gillespie. This would prove to be Sterling's final game as he retired due to being unable to recover from the recurring shoulder problem. ==Post-playing career==