Daley says Pearce can turn it around
MITCHELL Pearce is staring down the barrel of another Origin series defeat – his seventh in seven series – but NSW coach Laurie Daley says his Blues record can only truly be judged at the end of his career.
Pearce has won just five of the 17 games he has played for NSW and has never won a series, sitting out the Blues’ sole win of the past decade in 2014.
But statistics for one of the best players of all time suggest critics should not rush to judge Pearce.
Maroons legend and immortal-in-waiting Darren Lockyer won just eight of his first 21 Origin games for a win percentage of 38.1 from his debut in 1998 to 2005 before Queensland started its decade of dominance to leave him with a 52.8 per cent winning record on representative retirement.
Pearce’s winning record sits at 29.4 per cent ahead of tomorrow’s decider but Daley says his representative legacy cannot yet be determined.
“Darren Lockyer had a similar record as Mitchell at the same stage and then he went on to become one of the greats,” Daley said ahead of the series.
“Let’s see how the back end of Mitch’s career turns out and we’ll see.”
Pearce is possibly the most maligned player of his generation, attracting criticism and ridicule on both sides of the border.
Even the usually restrained Johnathan Thurston has chimed in, his response to Pearce calling him “old” in 2015, a withering sledge about the closest the Roosters half would ever get to the Origin shield would be having his photo taken with the Wally Lewis statue outside Suncorp Stadium.
The question remains whether the criticism is deserved.
Pearce may not have totally silenced his critics with his performance in this year’s series opener but he certainly quietened them after a dominant showing in the Blues’ win.
But debate heated up again following Game Two, when Pearce was accused of going missing in the second half as Queensland fought back to win despite Thurston playing with a busted shoulder. Queensland captain Cameron Smith felt the criticism was undeserved.
“I know responsibility falls on your halves at times (to get you home) but I think it’s the responsibility of the whole team, isn’t it, to get the job done, it’s not a one-man band,” Smith said.
“To be honest, I’m not across all of the criticism that Mitch has copped.
“But he’s played well this year, he’s playing some great footy and he played extremely well in the first two games, I believe.
“Just because they didn’t close the game out in Sydney doesn’t mean it’s entirely his fault.
“It’s the responsibility of the guys on the field at the time, the whole team, to get it done.”