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It is official, Mitchell Pearce is back in a Blues jumper after his one-year sabbatical. He has learnt a lot in his year off from state of Origin and now he is ready to finally silence his critics.
Wait a minute, haven’t we heard this all before?
Actually, before we get too far into this let me state that on form Mitchell Pearce is the best NSW half in the comp. He has been great this year, and I am not for a second going to pretend otherwise.
But anyway it is once again time for a Mitchell Pearce Origin redemption story. Truth is it has been building for a while now this season but now that the official NSW team list is out with Mitchell ‘11 and 4′ Pearce being selected proudly at number 7. This is the 16th time he has been selected in the halves for NSW, tying him up with Andrew Johns for most appearances in the number halfback role for the Blues.
And what impact has Mitchell Pearce made in his 15 previous appearances? Two drop-outs, 51 missed tackles and 15 drop balls make up the Pearce highlight reel.
But that isn’t my biggest problem with his selection. My biggest problem is the already mentioned ‘redemption’ narrative. Yes, that narrative that just seems to follow Mitchell Pearce every Origin series like a bad smell.
Everyone has probably heard the same squawks of ‘Mitchell Pearce has grown since his Australia Day incident and has never been in better form. Plus now the team will be his and his alone. This is the year Mitchell Pearce silences his critics and redeems himself’.
You cannot escape it if you are reading about State of Origin or watching a 2017 Sydney Roosters game. And I think it is ironic because leading up to and during the 2015 series all we heard was ‘Mitchell Pearce has grown since his King’s Cross incident and has never been in better form. This is the year Mitchell Pearce silences his critics and redeems himself’.
Which again is ironic because in 2013 we heard ‘Mitchell Pearce has grown a lot from his earlier Origin games. With his career-best form and his amazing partnership with James Maloney this is the year Mitchell Pearce silences his critics and redeems himself’. Which once again was ironic because in 2010 we were fed ‘Mitchell Pearce was picked way too early for Origin in 2008. But he has grown as a player and is in career best form. This is the year he redeems himself’. Does anyone else notice the pattern here?
(AAP Image/Dan Himbrechts)
Yes it seems every two to three years when Origin is approaching where every journalist, Roosters fan and their dog jump up and down about how Mitchell Pearce is going great and will redeem himself in State of Origin this year. And every year Mitchell Pearce has to wear the egg all over his face when he inevitably doesn’t do it.
This constantly peddled narrative is the reason his form in Origin is considered one of the game’s biggest in-jokes and is the reason that the casual fans seems to think that he is overrated.
And there is always a different reason as to why he will succeed now besides his form. First it was his older age, then it was his Maloney partnership, then it was his growing up after the Kings Cross incident and now it is apparently all Robbie Farah and Paul Gallen’s fault that he was bad in Origin, and if he is given sole responsibility he will be great. But is it really Paul Gallen’s fault that Mitchell Pearce has missed 49 tackles in Origin?
It must just be a coincidence that the team played perfectly fine without Pearce in 2014.
And maybe it is correct. Maybe with the keys to the NSW kingdom, Mitchell Pearce proves the haters wrong and defies the haters. But can we please at least wait until Mitchell Pearce has won a series, or played really well in a series before we label him with the redemption tagline? It is probably just heaping more pressure onto the guy.
Can we wait until he has lifted that Origin Shield before we make countless excuses for the guy’s poor form in previous seasons?
(AAP Image/Dean Lewins)
I also can’t stand the double standards that New South Wales seem to have with Mitchell Pearce and his Origin history. Like sure, pick an underperforming Jarryd Hayne and an undercooked Josh Dugan because they have always performed in the Origin arena. But oh no, you gotta ignore the Mitchell Pearce Origin past because of ‘reasons’!
We won’t ignore Dylan Walker’s past in Origin though. After all, had a bad game last year coming off the bench as a stupid super sub who was only used for seven minutes, so we better not pick this year him despite being the form centre of the comp. He let NSW down in Origin.
Either pick on form or pick on Origin history, don’t just apply it however you feel like. Mitchell’s best games have been tolerable at best and at worst atrocious and you just cannot ignore that.
All in all, do I think Pearce deserves a shot at Origin again?
Well, I guess I sort of do. Mainly because the NSW halves situation is dire as my current dating life.
But can we please stop painting him with this ‘redemption story’ brush? Can we please stop making excuses for him? And can we please stop giving him so many more chances than other New South Wales players?
I just wonder what the story will be in 2019 if Mitchell Pearce underachieves again.
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