Pearce

[Parkway_Drive]

I am trying to be positive, but Pearce always seems to disappoint me. Everytime I think he will dominate, he falls short.

When I don't expect much he surprises me'like in the back half of 2014 and when he came back after suspension last year he had a control about his game which is usually lacking. Unfortunately my expectations and hopes are high for him again lol, I pray in 2017 he surprises me.

[milanja]

Pearce is ok, but can't dominate a game without a decent playmaker next to him, if keary is good then Pearce will be good.

[Guest]

I just don't really know what to make of Pearce. We never know which version will show up from year to year. At times he looks like a gun, at other times he looks like he has received a lobotomy. Who knows which version we will find in 2017. I do hope he forms a good partnership with Keary.

[Easts75]

Pearce never falls short of my expectations.
A very passionate player who gives 100% but has limited ability and a poor short kicking game. Has plenty of positives but finds it very hard to turn the game in his sides favour if things aren't going to script

[ism22]

I don't really expect Pearce to dominate anybody. I expect him to stick to the game plan and feed the ball to the right players.

This is fine. However, I expect the same from Keary and Friend's a 50+ tackles a game defensive hooker. This leaves Watson as our only x-factor.

If we can work it right, I don't think we need a Carney/JT-style half who can rip entire teams apart. My concern is that our halves aren't as stable/consistent as Cronk... and they're not a lot more creative either (to make up for it).

Who do we pass the ball to with 10 to go when we need two tries to win? I dunno if we have 'that guy'. So... our spine needs to be REALLY stable (i.e. we don't wanna have a lot of close games - we're gonna need to shut teams out with clinical execution for 80 mins rather than trying to scrape out wins). I'm semi-confident that Keary, Friend, Pearce and Gordon can do this (they all know how to buy into a gameplan and stick to it). LOT of pressure on Watson and Latrell when they don't though!!! 10 to go... we take our captain off the field, feed Watson into lots of tight holes and move Latrell into an attacking FB role (tell him to forget about defence). Exciting thought, but risky as!!!

[Mad_Rooster_in_GraceLand]

"I don't really expect Pearce to dominate anybody" JISM said.

The dude is our highest paid player and if he signs on an extension he will probably be close to on a million a season from 2018 man. Anyway he better start dominating somebody for $800k plus a season.

[Arties Pie]

Decent first grader but as we all know we got rid of the wrong half. Recruitment and retention has alot to answer for imo.

[Johnny.]

A very good defensive player and a good hole runner. But not a halfback's bunghole.

[Tommy Smith]

The same fans that strongly criticise Pearce have probably thought at various stages that Chris Sandow is a better halfback because he has a decent chip and chase in him every now and then.

Whilst he'll never be a superstar he's still in the top 3 or 4 halfbacks in the game and for good reason - no he's not an instinctive genius but he's a quality defender, organiser, long kicker and he has a great accurate pass on him.

I totally understand where Parkway is coming from because after the way he ended 2014 I was expecting him to come out and be a superstar in 2015.

But I've now come to appreciate Pearce for all the reasons that Robbo values him. All of which were painstakingly obvious in the first 8 weeks last year.

[Bigchook]

I don't really expect Pearce to dominate anybody. I expect him to stick to the game plan and feed the ball to the right players.

This is fine. However, I expect the same from Keary and Friend's a 50+ tackles a game defensive hooker. This leaves Watson as our only x-factor.

If we can work it right, I don't think we need a Carney/JT-style half who can rip entire teams apart. My concern is that our halves aren't as stable/consistent as Cronk... and they're not a lot more creative either (to make up for it).

Who do we pass the ball to with 10 to go when we need two tries to win? I dunno if we have 'that guy'. So... our spine needs to be REALLY stable (i.e. we don't wanna have a lot of close games - we're gonna need to shut teams out with clinical execution for 80 mins rather than trying to scrape out wins). I'm semi-confident that Keary, Friend, Pearce and Gordon can do this (they all know how to buy into a gameplan and stick to it). LOT of pressure on Watson and Latrell when they don't though!!! 10 to go... we take our captain off the field, feed Watson into lots of tight holes and move Latrell into an attacking FB role (tell him to forget about defence). Exciting thought, but risky as!!!

Pressure on Watson? He's played about 10 games and will be lucky to see 10 minutes in most matches next year. No one should be looking at him for x factor next year. Pearce/latrell will be where the big plays are made. I expect to see latrell steamroll opponents from 5m out for at least 5+ trys this year.

[Tommy Smith]

Keary is an x-factor.

He's the best hole runner we have and will keep defences on their toes.

[mattyh]

Pearce is an excellent first grade half, not an origin player but good none the less, i feel tommy smith nailed this....we didnt let the wrong half go either maloney and pearce worked well together, just as he did with carney and i think pearce and keary can be good to just give it a few rounds before passing judgement.

[Arties Pie]

we didnt let the wrong half go

To each their own but Maloney imo brings more to the table than Pearce ever did, good hole runner , good passing game and lets not forget probably the best goal kicker this club has ever had.

[Cockadoodledoo]

Pearce is a much better player when he has a dominant 5/8 alongside him. The problem is he is paid so much, we can't afford the dominant 5/8.

[Cockadoodledoo]

=

Pressure on Watson? He's played about 10 games and will be lucky to see 10 minutes in most matches next year. No one should be looking at him for x factor next year. Pearce/latrell will be where the big plays are made. I expect to see latrell steamroll opponents from 5m out for at least 5+ trys this year.

Yeah let's put the pressure on the benchie who will see sporadic game time to come up with the big plays and let Pearce fly under the radar. makes sense.. TBH I think the club was also hoping Fergo could provide X factor. Hoping he can somehow return to his form of a few years ago, however Pearce really needs to aim up this year. He has a very good passing and long kicking game but lacks the guile to utilize his pace in any form of running game. He had zero line breaks from 11 games last season and only 4 in 2015. Not good enough.. A guy like Adrian Lam gets bagged out here from time to time but he was consistently piling on seasons with 20+ line breaks and 20+ try assists.