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Towards the end of last night’s Origin match NSW fans had to ask themselves a question: who would they rather never see again; fat, naked bald guy or Mitchell Pearce at halfback?
While the NSW rugby league side’s unofficial mascot is the humble cockroach, the scapegoat is perhaps a better fit for the Blues teams of the last eight years.
Luckily then for NSW supporters – waking up this morning and suddenly realising with dread their boss is from Innisfail and the number of words that rhyme with eight – they have the choice of two such creatures to cast their woes upon.
On the outside the two individuals couldn’t be more different, however on closer inspection the tales of Mitchell Pearce and fat, naked bald guy (FNBG) are remarkably similar.
Both Pearce and FNBG had a taste of the big stage early in their career, only to disappear from sight before once again returning for a crack at the big stage.
Pearce got his Origin debut in ’08 before falling out of favour with selectors, while FNBG made his NRL debut in a high intensity 2011 semi-final at the SFS.
They also both, despite what their detractors might say, have obvious talent.
Pearce was chased by NRL clubs since his early teens and is helming a side running second in the competition.
And as for FNBG? Geez I went to Origin this year and I was flat out getting a bucket of chips, let alone past security and 90 metres up the field in the raw.
The bloke must be Matt Bowen in Mark Tookey’s body!
Perhaps most obviously, both Pearce and FNBG just want to be loved.
Pearce is the son of one of NSW’s all-time greatest players, and there would be nothing he would love to do more than win a series for his state and talk victory tales on a riding trip with the old man.
FNBG? Well if getting your gear off, taking the time to get a full body tan and running out onto the playing field at a crucial point of an event watched by millions around the world doesn’t scream “Love me!”, I don’t know what does.
Like many NSW headliners of the past whose papers have been marked ‘never to appear again’, it is quite likely after last night we have seen the last of these two brothers in arms.
A couple of dreamers who gave the big stage their best crack and showed plenty of mongrel, only to be exposed and come up short when the heat was on.
The only difference of course being that while FNBG is waking up today with a $5,000 fine, a year’s ban from the stadium and a few bruises from the embarrassed security guards, Pearce will be dealing with a heavily battered body, a lifetime fan imposed ban from the Blues and ultimately a lot more lost money than 5k.
It’s enough to make a scapegoat curse a blue streak.
HG Nelson had the following to say:
https://twitter.com/hg_nelson/status/357472348879863808
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