Campo’s Corner: Why can’t New South Wales seem to quit Mitchell Pearce?
Mitchell Pearce has been recalled for his eighth Origin series and while a state is divided the much-maligned Knights skipper will never get a better chance to claim the shield.
Mitchell Pearce is a very good club player and has been for a long time.
When he’s in form, like he was for Newcastle earlier this year, he’s a top level NRL half.
But that has never translated to Origin level. Not in seven series or 18 matches. And nobody has been given more chances. Pearce has already played the most games in the halves of any player in New South Wales Origin history.
In Origin III he will draw level with Andrew Johns as the Blues most capped halfback of all time. Pearce has played more Origin matches than Peter Sterling, Ricky Stuart, Steve Mortimer and Brett Kenny.
He was thrown into Origin too early, at 19 years old and barely 30 games into his career. It set him up to fail - imagine Tom Dearden playing halfback for Queensland next season.
Pearce shouldn’t be entirely blamed for the losses in the early days (2008, 2010 and 2011) and he shouldn’t be entirely blamed for the series defeats that were to come.
But in 2013, when the series was on the line in a tight and tense game at ANZ Stadium, James Maloney did all he could but Pearce couldn’t get the job done in a 12-10 loss.
Nor could he in 2015, when the Blues were outfought in Game I and destroyed in Origin III, massacred by a record 46 points as the entire team collapsed under the pressure and fury of the Maroons.
Nor could he in 2017, perhaps the worst loss of all. After a 28-4 belting at Suncorp the Blues came home and had the Maroons on the ropes. It was 16-6 at halftime and who else but Pearce himself scored the final try of the half, racing away in support of James Tedesco. I was at that game that night and as Pearce crossed the line I found myself thinking that it was finally going to happen, Pearce was going to lead New South Wales to a series win at last and all the doubters, including myself, would have to eat crow.
But then it went another way. Queensland pulled it out of the fire again. Pearce’s kicking game and decision making deserted him again. He faded down the stretch, the Maroons got out of jail and we all went on a grim death march to Brisbane where the Blues lost a decider nobody thought they were going to win.
All told he has lost six deciders, two of them at home after the Blues won the opening match of the series. He has six try assists, one line break and two forced drop outs in 18 games. In his last 11 Origin matches he has set up two tries. The good, and occasionally great, things we see from Pearce at club level have just never translated.
Not every loss is Pearce’s fault but neither is he totally blameless. The defence of him playing against a cadre of Immortals doesn’t stand up, because with Trent Hodkinson and Josh Reynolds in the halves – two men with far less stellar club resumes than Pearce – a very similar Blues side took those same players on and won.
Why is Pearce afforded the amount of chances that have been given to nobody else? Remember Cody Walker, who has vanished into witness protection after losing one game, let alone a series, let alone seven of them? Why is Pearce afforded a loyalty never shown to Walker, or Adam Reynolds before him or any number of players before that?
I can understand fears that by starting Wade Graham at five-eighth the Blues were a James Maloney injury away from not having a specialist half on the field. But in that case wouldn’t Walker, who was good enough a month ago but is now seemingly despised, be the perfect bench utility? And don’t try and tell me his form doesn’t warrant it because Pearce’s recent showings (against the Storm and Broncos) haven’t been crash hot either.
When Walker struggled in Origin I he was crushed. When Pearce has failed to get the job done he has been lifted up. How many times have we been told that this year was different? How many times has it been said that Pearce has matured to a level that he can now dominate Origin? It’s a great redemption story if it happens, just like it was in 2013, 2015 and 2017. What will it take for his card to be marked?
Pearce’s effort should never be doubted. He was given all the time in the world to prove his credentials as an Origin half, the benefit of the doubt time and again. But how can we believe in him this time after the things we’ve seen? How can we defy what we have watched unfold so many times before?
One thing is for sure, Pearce will never get a better chance than this.
He’s taking on a Queensland team without Kalyn Ponga coming off a heavy defeat, at ANZ Stadium where they’ve won just nine of 28 matches. If James Maloney is given the same playmaking responsibility he was afforded in Origin II, Pearce will play a secondary role, a complementary one, where there is less pressure on him to create and lead.
He doesn’t have to head to the belly of the beast and take on Queensland at Suncorp, he doesn’t have to resurrect the Blues across the desert. He just needs one win, one time and then nobody can ever say they beat Mitchell Pearce eight series in a row. And even if the Blues lose there’s a fair chance we do it all again next year.
Walters bets it all on Corey Norman
Norman has bolted from a fair way back to replace Cameron Munster at five-eighth for Queensland and call me crazy, but my spider sense is telling me all is not as it seems. Would it really be that shocking if Michael Morgan starts at five-eighth, Moses Mbye at centre and Norman off the bench? Would Kevin Walters really risk starting a debutant in such a crucial position in a match on which his Origin coaching future probably lies?
Or maybe the rollercoaster ride of a long Origin season has done what years of close Canberra losses almost did and driven me to paranoid insanity and this is what it appears to be. Walters has done this before – he was at the helm of the last team to blood a debutant half in a decider when he picked Cameron Munster at five-eighth in 2017.
That was a little different given Billy Slater, Cooper Cronk and Cameron Smith were all still in the side – before Munster you have to go back to 2008, when the Blues threw poor 18-year old Mitchell Pearce to the wolves and lost 16-10.
Norman has been in good form for St George Illawarra and has a very different skill set and style to the run-first Munster, who could be even more dangerous with the extra space and broken play opportunities afforded to him at fullback. Trusting the Dragons man on a stage unlike any he’s experienced in his ten seasons in the NRL – Norman has played in three finals games, all losses – is the gamble upon which Walters will stake his Origin career because if he loses two series in a row there likely won’t be a chance at redemption.
I WILL NEVER STOP TALKING ABOUT MINUTES
It feels like at least half of all Campo’s Corner content over the Origin period has been talking about minutes and how they’ve been distributed but their importance in these big games can’t be denied. With Joe Ofahenague coming into Queensland’s starting side and their continued reliance on Josh Papalii, the Maroons should look to play their three starters for up to 60 minutes – which the three of them should be capable of doing.
Tim Glasby was solid enough in Perth, David Fifita has acquitted himself well in his first series and Christian Welch is a tremendously underrated player but Queensland can’t afford to cede the middle as easily as they did in Perth. Ofahengaue is an important inclusion and if you’re backing the Maroons to win he’s not a bad flyer for man of the match.
After bungling their bench in Origin I the Blues simplified things for Origin II and reaped plenty of benefits. As with Queensland’s backline, it wouldn’t surprise if New South Wales pulled a fast one in the hours leading up to kick-off – Dale Finucane did such a fine job as a starter and is so much better suited to that role than the bench it seems a step backwards to bench him while Paul Vaughan can easily be a strong impact player.
Tariq Sims was only afforded 25 minutes in Origin II, the least of any Blues player, but using Klemmer for such a short span when he is capable of so much more would be a misuse of the state’s best forward.
PREDICTIONS
It’s impossible to get any sense of how the Blues attack will adjust to having Pearce in for Cleary, given they are two very different styles of player. Pearce won a premiership alongside Maloney in 2013 playing more of a secondary role but he hasn’t had to go that way for some time now.
I’m expecting a huge game from Cameron Munster at fullback and a renewed effort from Queensland on the whole after the humiliation of Origin II. Having said that, the Blues have won three of the four halves played so far in this series - apart from the second half of Origin I they have dominated.
Pearce’s inclusion has thrown me out of wack and I don’t believe he can stand up at this level but the Blues still have the better side.
New South Wales 22 Queensland 18
First try scorer: Jack Wighton and Boyd Cordner for the Blues, Daly Cherry-Evans and Corey Oates for Queensland.
Man of the match: James Maloney and Dale Finucane (if he starts) for the Blues, Joe Ofahengaue and Cameron Munster for Queensland.
CAN KAL CRUSH THE CURSE?
We interrupt your regularly scheduled Origin programming to note that Kallum Watkins, Leeds legend and England mainstay, has signed with the Titans. This has escaped notice because of the Origin fever that engulfs the Australian rugby league landscape this time of year but it’s a pretty notable signing, both because of who Watkins is and what he represents.
With Canberra’s legion of Poms and the Burgess clan and James Graham and all the rest it’s a good time to be English and in the NRL but the common denominator in all the English players who have succeeded in the NRL recently is their position – every one of them is a forward.
The last European back to succeed in the NRL was Brian Carney in 2006 with Newcastle. The last English or Welsh backs to really make it were the likes of Gary Connolly, Jonathan Davies and Martin Offiah in the early 1990s. Since then it’s been a long run of outs for the English and some of their best and brightest came over – Zak Hardaker was a year removed from winning the Man of Steel when he joined Penrith in 2017 and Sam Tomkins was two years beyond the same award when he joined the Warriors in 2014.
At 28, Watkins is still in the prime of his career and – unlike Ryan Hall, who’s first NRL season coincides with his recovery from a knee reconstruction – he’s fit and ready to go. It may well take a full off-season for Watkins to get his body ready for the Australian game, but he’s got as good a chance as any to end England’s run of outs - Watkins has had some great days in Test football against Australia and New Zealand in the past.
The Titans need something going for them and hopefully Watkins can be it – although their own history with British and Irish backs (Brian Carney and Matty Russell didn’t play a game for them and Ritchie Mathers and Dan Sarginson were terrible) there could be some nervous punters up north.
Golden Hombre –
Is there anything more thrilling than when a big man gets into the clear and attempts an ill-advised dummy, or perhaps a chip kick?
Is there anything greater than when a large lad decides the time has come for him to show the world the ball skills he knows lurk deep within?
Is there anything that lifts the spirit more than a hefty fellow crashing across the stripe for his second NRL try in his 179th first grade match?
I say no, and to honour these big fellas each and every week of the year, which many have dubbed #BigManSeason, we hand out The Golden Hombre, named after Todd Payten, the biggest halfback God ever created.
Another huge week for the big units – Jeremy Latimore hitching a ride to the game cause of traffic is right up there as is Michael Chee-Kam scoring his second long-range, matchwinning try of the season and Manu Ma’u throwing a truly ridiculous dummy to score untouched against Canberra would be a strong winner on any other week.
This clip from somewhere in England was also floating around and it’s just tremendous. Shine on big fella.
But the winner has to be Cronulla forward Jack Williams, who very nearly scored the try of the season after snatching up a loose ball in the dying stages against Canterbury and took off, showing a turn of pace that not even he knew he had before he was dragged down metres short of the line. If the Cooma product had scored Cronulla would have to have changed their name to the Cronulla Hombres.
A guy you should know – Mason Lino
If you’re one of those people who spends a little bit too much time keeping track of reserve grade footy (shout out to the Auckland Vulcans) then you know all about Mason Lino. The former Warrior was a mainstay in the lower grades for years, leading the Warriors to an Under 20s premiership in 2014 before playing in nine NRL matches from 2015 to 2017, all losses, most of them heavy.
But then Lino experienced huge improvement last year, impressing as a replacement for Blake Green and Shaun Johnson at various times of the season before linking up with Newcastle in 2019. He’s not been an automatic selection just yet but his smart kicking game, clever organising and excellent goalkicking make him a prime candidate to partner Mitchell Pearce in the halves. With the Knights short on playmakers due to Kalyn Ponga’s injury, this could be Lino’s chance to assert himself.
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