Mitchell Pearce has played more games at halfback for New South Wales than any other player in State Of Origin history. He has never been in a series winning side.
Many people would suggest it’s unfair to state those two facts. Let’s face it, there are a number of players in the New South Wales lineup that have never been part of a series winning team. The difference is that if you go through those players, every single one of them at some point have stepped up and played a key role in winning individual games.
That is something you can not say about Mitchell Pearce.
As the Sydney Roosters rolled to a huge win over a terrible Cronulla Sharks team on Saturday night, I started getting messages. Pearce was on fire, apparently. I wasn’t watching the match so I wouldn’t know.
I got a text message off a mate that said how well Pearce was playing. My reply was “Let me guess. The Roosters are up by 40, the Sharks are not in the contest, and Pearce looks like a world beater?”. When I eventually saw the score line I saw that I wasn’t that far off.
That is Mitchell Pearce. He looks great when his team is steamrolling the opposition. He is no where to be seen when it’s a close game though.
The impassioned defence of Pearce in the media has been extraordinary. So many people have come out and claimed it is unfair to call for Pearce’s head after yet another disastrous State Of Origin performance. They have talked about what a nice bloke he is, they have talked about loyalty, they have talked about being patient with Pearce and not chopping and changing the Blues halves as we have seen happen in the past.
It all seems a bit strange to me. Mitchell Pearce was without question the worst player on the field in State Of Origin three. Over the course of the series, no other player that played in all three games can even come close to the inept, non performances Pearce manage to string together.
I don’t know about other New South Wales supporters, but I’m sick to death of losing! I have enough sense to know that if you pick the same losing lineup over and over again and get the same result, you have no one to blame but yourself!
I think all of our selectors should be fired. 8 straight losing series in a row? Do we really need to give them another shot at it?
As for Pearce, how many more games does he need? How many more games should New South Wales invest in a player that has never, not once, performed at the level required in the State Of Origin series?
It’s all well and good to suggest we should all support Pearce, get behind the young bloke and show some loyalty.
I’m sorry, we have lost 8 series in a row. Take your loyalty, turn it sideways and shove it up your arse!
It’s great that Mitchell Pearce played well in a round 19 fixture against a weakened Cronulla Sharks side a few days after an embarrassing, career defining loss in State Of Origin three. Congratulations to Mitchell and congratulations to all of his supporters. Get back to me when he performs in a game that a really means something…
As for his career at State Of Origin level, his performances speak for themselves. He should never wear a sky blue jersey again.
