Knights woes reportedly cost Mitchell Pearce a potential $1M payday

Newcastle’s woeful late-season cliff dive has reportedly robbed Mitchell Pearce of boosting his earnings to $1 million this year.

Newcastle’s woeful late-season cliff dive reportedly robbed Mitchell Pearce of earning $1 million this year.

Fairfax Media reports Pearce has clauses in his contract which guarantee cash bonuses depending on how the Knights perform over the course of the season.

His base salary is believed to be about $900,000, but reportedly would have been given an extra $75,000 if the Knights played finals in 2019, and that increased to $150,000 if they finished inside the top four.

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If you factor in the $30,000 payment for his State of Origin appearance, Pearce’s playing salary could have been more than $1 million for the season.

Fairfax Media says those same clauses are in effect for each of the four years on Pearce’s current contract.

It means he had the potential to earn an additional $600,000 by the end of the deal, but he’s now lost half of those potential earnings with two seasons devoid of finals.

There’s been speculation this week Pearce was among a group of senior players who failed to support coach Nathan Brown, which ultimately led to his premature exit from the club on Tuesday.

But Pearce vehemently denied those allegations.

“I spoke to Browny on Monday and said to him we want you to stay on,” Pearce told Fairfax Media.

“We had a bit of a meeting after the Tigers game and I had the leadership boys at my house on Sunday and we spoke about what was best for the team, the club and for Browny.

“There was a lot of communication going on and the whole playing group was invested in it, so for anyone to suggest we didn’t care is bullshit.

“None of us wanted Browny just to pack up and leave and we asked him to hang in there and stick it out.”

The Knights are now playing under assistant coach Kristian Woolf for the remainder of the season.