As Cooper Cronk signs with Sydney Roosters, Mitchell Pearce must reflect on how it happened, writes Paul Kent
THE Sydney Roosters stood by Mitchell Pearce through his off-field controversies. But it was his failure to realise his playing potential that led to his replacement, writes PAUL KENT.
Opinion
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LAST week Wayne Pearce, ARLC Commissioner and father, called Roosters boss Nick Politis to talk about the club’s known interest in Cooper Cronk and what it meant for his son, halfback Mitchell.
Pearce Sr told Politis it was disrespectful for the Roosters to make Cronk an offer to come in and run the team ahead of his son, especially after all his son had done for the club.
Mitchell was a premiership-winning halfback, he said.
It was a father’s concern but it was always going to be one of those useless conversations in rugby league.
Politis listened but did not agree. The Roosters are about winning and realise it often requires the best available.
And they believe they have long been patient with Pearce, in many ways, and that all things considered the balance is in their favour.
NUMBERS: Cronk twice as good as Pearce
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MONEY: Proof Roosters can afford Cronk
Respect is personal. You give and receive according to upbringing and belief. The Roosters claim they have respected Pearce beyond the average.
When Pearce got himself into trouble on Australia Day last year, flirting with a poodle, the NRL applied intense pressure to sack him.
The story went worldwide, the NRL had all the evidence, and it wanted the Roosters to make a statement with Pearce.
The Roosters resisted. The NRL does not tell them how to do business. It would have been the easy decision if they thought less of Pearce.
Certainly there were grounds to sack him. Sponsors and directors quit the Roosters and the club was half-a-million dollars poorer.
The Roosters could also justify it from a football sense.
Cronulla employed a similar strategy when Ben Barba tested positive the second time to cocaine. The Sharks saw an opportunity to relieve salary cap pressure and Barba was sacked from his $600,000-a-year contract.
It provided multiple benefits.
It immediately took the money owing from the rest of the year off the cap to free up space to upgrade and extend other contracts, notably Val Holmes.
At the same time, Barba got the quiet nod that he would be brought back once the suspension was served but, given his damaged reputation, on a reduced amount.
That freed up space in the cap for following seasons while effectively keeping the same player. Barba had no choice but to wear it because of his damaged reputation.
The gamble backfired on the Sharks when Barba refused to cop the terms and the 12-week suspension.
He had no idea it would backfire so severely on himself when his stint in French rugby collapsed and he ended up at St Helens in the English Super League with a world of regret.
The Roosters had a similar chance with Pearce but stuck by him. They have also stood by his performances while he has become the most-maligned player in the NRL.
He has become the annual whipping boy for NSW fans looking for blame.
Roosters coach Trent Robinson fought the criticism. He declared he had such faith in Pearce’s ability that he built the Roosters’ whole attack around his playmaker.
This season seems to have finally demanded an acknowledgment, though. Pearce is better than his reputation but not as good as his promise.
He was still the best halfback in NSW but Nathan Cleary might have that by Origin time next year.
The Roosters began to re-evaluate. For the past six years Pearce has been their highest-paid player as they waited for him to become the player they paid him to be.
It did not miss the Roosters that while he is a premiership-winning halfback, his opposite Daly Cherry-Evans walked away with the Clive Churchill Medal.
The Roosters have finished minor premiers three times and second once in the past five years yet won just one premiership in that time.
Given similar opportunities there is a belief a Cronk or Johnathan Thurston would have converted better.
Pearce has his head down trying when it should be up directing.
The nod to all that is the Roosters’ pursuit of Cronk. They hope Pearce remains and spends the next two years learning what it takes to make that next step as a first-rate playmaker.
Manly and Newcastle are interested but Cronulla are chasing hard and frustrating the Roosters.
On Sunday, Sharks captain Paul Gallen told Channel 9: “I think if Cooper Cronk does sign with the Roosters, I don’t think Mitchell Pearce can stay.”
Former Shark Mick Ennis has already said Pearce should move on if he is uncomfortable with Cronk’s arrival, while other sentiment elsewhere is that Pearce must move on.
They are loose strings pulled together but the Roosters believe there is nothing innocent about it.