NRL 2016: Mitchell Pearce leads Sydney Roosters to massive win over Newcastle Knights

MITCHELL Pearce’s return from a two-month suspension breathed new life into the embattled Roosters side, who smashed Newcastle.

Mitchell Pearce of the Roosters is tackled.

BLAKE Ferguson’s Test selection “hit him deep”.

But before he would officially become a Kangaroo he set himself the goal of performing well for the Roosters.

And Ferguson achieved just that scoring a hat-trick of tries in the Roosters 38-0 win against Newcastle at Allianz Stadium.

The return of Mitchell Pearce and Jared Waerea-Hargreaves saw the Roosters end a two match losing streak to record just their second win of the season as the Roosters raced in six unanswered tries.

They leapfrogged the Knights on the premiership ladder, leaving Newcastle in last spot.

But it was Ferguson who stole the show, scoring his first hat-trick of tries in almost three years, when he scored three tries for the Raiders against the Knights on May 12, 2013.

Roosters coach Trent Robinson said Ferguson was deeply touched after being announced in the Australian squad last Monday to play the Kiwis this Friday night.

“He was so excited when he found out,” Robinson said.

“It hit him somewhere deep when he found out about it. That was really good to see but then he talked to me about coming back and wanting to play well tonight.

“To get three tries was a great way to go into next week.”

The Test against the Kiwis will be Ferguson’s first representative game since being thrown out of the NSW Origin camp in 2013 after just one game. He spent 2014 away from the game before making his comeback for the Roosters last season.

Robinson praised the way the NRL handled Ferguson’s exile and how Ferguson responded.

“He is a really thoughtful guy,” Robinson said.

“It’s good to see when people change like that and get the reward to play for Australia. There is playing and there is performing. This isn’t the finish. Now it’s about performing for Australia. It’s been good to watch.”

The $40,000 fine handed down by the NRL to the Roosters for Trent Robinson’s referee tirade last week seemed like money well spent after the Roosters raced to a 6-2 penalty count lead early in the first half.

The Roosters finished 8-5 ahead, receiving just one penalty in the second half as they dominated possession, as Robinson’s target Ben Cummins prepared to take control of Manly and North Queensland at Brookvale.

The Roosters raced to a 14-0 half-time lead after 27 minutes. Robinson said the returns of Pearce and Waerea-Hargreaves allowed the team to “move more freely”.

Mitchell Pearce of the Roosters makes a break.

“Better performance that’s for sure,” Robinson said.

“I thought we took our time. We played our game and we weren’t as emotional about trying to score points. We took a bit more time with our game.

“It’s been tough for Newcastle. I understand what they’ve been going through with the players out. I thought they were hard to tackle. Their play the balls were really quick. They had trouble finishing off opportunities. They were coming at us.”

Newcastle coach Nathan Brown said he had just 18 players available to select for last night’s game.

“I’m only down to 18 players,” Brown said. “Even our 18th man was probably not fit to play. A week off for us is quite timely. I don’t suspect we’ll get anyone back after the break.”

Originally published as NRL 2016: Mitchell Pearce leads Sydney Roosters to massive win over Newcastle Knights