Reviewing Mitchell Pearce's Origin 1 performance

Going into Wednesday night’s State of Origin opener it was common knowledge that if the Blues lost, it would be blamed on one man and one man only – Blues five-eighth Mitchell Pearce.

The Blues lost. Pearce became public enemy number one.

However the media has turned on his halves partner, Trent Hodkinson, with numerous reporters calling for his head.

Following on from last week’s article outlining Pearce’s past Origin struggles and how he could turn it around, I decided to review whether Pearce is in fact to blame for the Blues’ loss.

Let’s start with Pearce’s kicking game, often a strength for the Roosters but an area where he has struggled during past Origin matches. Unfortunately we got Origin Pearce’s kicking game on Wednesday night.

Out of 12 kicks, I counted seven as bad, three as average and two as good. That’s it, two good kicks. Two. New South Wales can’t expect to win when their kicking game is so poor. Hodkinson has copped plenty of flak for his kicking game but Pearce took the lion’s share of the kicking and Hodkinson actually had some very good kicks.

The difference between the two team’s kicking games was stark. Queensland regularly found the turf, NSW ground the man. Queensland were able to force repeat sets of six, NSW effectively handed Queensland the ball. The Maroons forced four dropouts, enabling them to build repeat pressure, and the opening try came on the back of a dropout. NSW did not force any, did not build any pressure, and their fifth tackle options were poor.

Both Pearce and Hodkinson must take responsibility for this inability to force repeat sets and mount pressure.

Watching Pearce attack with ball in hand in the first half, it appeared as though he had finally turned a corner. He wasn’t great and didn’t do it all the time, but he started actually testing the defence by taking them on. Dummying, stepping and going himself close to the line is exactly what he has failed to do in the past, and this is what he did on three occasions on Wednesday.

Unfortunately there were also a few occasions in the first half where he ran across field and became an easy target for the Maroons defence, or turned his teammates into cannon fodder when he passed them the ball. This happened a few too many times and the Queenslanders easily shut the Blues down when it did.

In saying that, Pearce was not the only one guilty of running across field, Hodkinson did it, Josh Dugan did it, Michael Jennings did it and even Robbie Farah did it. It plagued the Blues attack for much of the game and in the end cost them.

Pearce did a good job in delivering the final pass for Beau Scott’s try in the 26th minute. The Blues had a seven on four advantage and Greg Inglis decided to rush in on Pearce. It’s hard to be too critical of the decision – it’s a dammed if you do, dammed if you don’t situation – but it is not hard to be critical of what happened next.

Inglis missed Pearce, opening a yawning gap for Scott. Pearce hit him short and Scott crashed over for a four pointer. It was a good piece of play from Pearce to take advantage of a poor defensive error.

Overall Pearce was pretty good in the first half, I’d give his performance a B plus.

The NSW forwards were the better pack in the first half. After weathering an early storm, James Tamou stood up and led with a number of strong runs, and that outstanding offload set up Josh Morris’ try. Pearce benefited greatly from playing behind a pack that was moving forward, as it gave him the time and space he needed to attack.

Unfortunately the Queensland forwards completely dominated for the second half. They were moving and picking up 10 metres a carry with ease against a retreating defensive line. The Blues pack was completely monstered by the Maroons defence. Queensland pushed the boundaries of offside all night and the referees were unwilling to penalise them. They also did an excellent job slowing down the play the ball, making gang tackles and pushing the boundaries of holding down for too long.

As a result, Pearce struggled in the second half. He was under pressure for many of his touches and thus ineffective. Pearce had 12 touches in the second half in which he didn’t kick the ball and the numbers are not pretty. There were four dummy-half passes, five instances in which he just caught and passed to a forward, two instances in which he ran a play or tested the line himself, and his final touch came on the last play of the game.

The occasional across field run in the first half became all too common in the second half. He actually tested the line with a straight run just once, after a quick play-the-ball saw the Maroons’ line speed drop. Unfortunately he passed to Josh Dugan, who ran across field and dropped the ball.

Queensland’s line speed was so good that Pearce often passed it to players who were swamped by defenders. He needed to run it himself just once or twice to prevent the outside defenders from being able to rush up. It didn’t happen.

The Blues had one chance to win the match and one chance only. This came in the 72nd minute, and they blew it.

Between Hodkinson and Pearce, it was an atrocious set of six. Phil Gould didn’t hold back in commentary and I’m glad he didn’t, the criticism was more than warranted. There was indecision over what the Blues were trying to do, were they setting up for a field goal or going for a try? As a result the set of six was disjointed.

It started with four forward hit-ups, and a field goal attempt could have come after the third and fourth, but it then ended with two plays in which they tried to attack. On the second-last play Pearce called for the ball wide and delivered a horrible cutout pass to Josh Morris that was easily defended. That play took the Blues to the sideline, making a field goal near impossible.

Pearce then received the ball on the final play and passed it along to Hodkinson, who saw some space and delivered a wide ball to Jennings. Jennings then absolutely butchered a scoring opportunity and handed the Maroons a seven-tackle set. They marched up the field and won the game.

While Jennings made a poor decision on that play, it should not have got to that situation. Pearce and Hodkinson should have stepped up and attempted to force a repeat set.

Overall, Pearce struggled mightily in the second half and had little to no impact for his side. If he had a halves partner who was able to stand up and lead the team it may not have mattered. There is no escaping the fact that Hodkinson did not play well. But after a good first half, Pearce was also poor in the second half.

He should not take all the blame for the loss, but some of it should be laid at Pearce’s feet. Overall I’d give Pearce a C.