Ronaldo Mulitalo has opened up about his expected return date after suffering a serious ACL rupture last October during the Pacific Championships.
The 26-year-old underwent surgery and, although he was initially targeting an earlier comeback, the club have now informed him of his first potential game for the 2026 season.
If all goes to plan, he is expected to return against the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs to open the NRL Magic Round.
"Yeah, I just spoke to Pickles, who is our head of performance, and he gave me Round 11," he shared on The Chad Townsend Show on Sunday.
"I was honestly pushing for the round just after the bye, Round 8.
"If I'm good enough to play and they're paying me, I feel like I should be doing my job for the club.
"So yeah, Round 11 should be ticked off."
Mulitalo has been with the Cronulla Sharks since his NRL debut in 2019 and has scored 100 tries across 136 appearances.
His current contract with Cronulla is set to run until the end of 2028.
Despite a difficult off-season with injury, he spoke about his relationship with the club and how fortunate he was to have signed an extension.
"I'm lucky I've got signed for the next couple of years as well," he told Chad Townsend.
"It's just bad timing for the club, I guess, signing someone for the next couple of years, and they get injured in the first year of their new contract.
"But I feel really lucky, Chad. I don't feel like I'm missing a beat. I'm still around the club. The club have involved me heaps with it."
Sam Stonestreet replaced Mulitalo to start the season after making his NRL debut in 2024, scoring two tries from five games so far this season.
