Mitchell Pearce.

[Rooster_6]

Why, because I have recruited a premiership winning centre, and premiership winning half ????

Do you still considering yourself an objective viewer of Pearce?

[Guest]

Do you still considering yourself an objective viewer of Pearce?

Always have been IMO

Reputation a surname and Pootential mean jack shit to me

Performance under pressure is what counts

He was under pressure with no Carney and struggled, he had no pressure with Carney and improved markedly, he is now Carneyless and granted he has a 5/8 that isnt trying, but it seems lately he starts like a house on fire, then when things get tough, he gets going.

BUt i do take my hat off to anyone that bangs a pussycat doll and plays alongside im afraid to say " a non tryer"

[Chook Norris]

Always have been IMO

Reputation a surname and Pootential mean jack shit to me

Performance under pressure is what counts

He was under pressure with no Carney and struggled, he had no pressure with Carney and improved markedly, he is now Carneyless and granted he has a 5/8 that isnt trying, but it seems lately he starts like a house on fire, then when things get tough, he gets going.

BUt i do take my hat off to anyone that bangs a pussycat doll and plays alongside im afraid to say " a non tryer"

well summed up.

[Guest]

he is now Carneyless and granted he has a 5/8 that isnt trying, but it seems lately he starts like a house on fire, then when things get tough, he gets going.

BUt i do take my hat off to anyone that bangs a pussycat doll and plays alongside im afraid to say " a non tryer"

I agree.

I just believe that there are very few halves going around today who would do a better job playing in such a poorly coached; often out-of-position and always abysmally captained side. People say JT is the best in the game, yet he struggled big time before the Cowboys got their gameplan and recruitment sorted.

I guess that is where Pearce's supporters and detractors differ.

[Rooster_6]

Always have been IMO

Reputation a surname and Pootential mean jack shit to me

Performance under pressure is what counts

He was under pressure with no Carney and struggled, he had no pressure with Carney and improved markedly, he is now Carneyless and granted he has a 5/8 that isnt trying, but it seems lately he starts like a house on fire, then when things get tough, he gets going.

BUt i do take my hat off to anyone that bangs a pussycat doll and plays alongside im afraid to say " a non tryer"

Ah the good old surname, yep you're still objective.

I guess you don't consider origin one as a pressure game and haven't been watching Jamie play without Bennett holding his hand then...

[Rooster_6]

I agree.

I just believe that there are very few halves going around today who would do a better job playing in such a poorly coached; often out-of-position and always abysmally captained side. People say JT is the best in the game, yet he struggled big time before the Cowboys got their gameplan and recruitment sorted.

I guess that is where Pearce's supporters and detractors differ.

The majority of fans just fail to distinguish the difference between an organising halfback and a creative 5/8 in my opinion. If they could, they'd sooner accept their roles and rate their performances accordingly.

Thurston is a creative 5/8 who has never been paired with an organising halfback hence despite some very good rosters the Cowboys are yet to win a premiership, in fact they haven't even gone close. His main role is to create tries and because things like tries, linebreaks, line break assists & try assists are easy for even the most uneducated Rugby League fan to see he's rarely criticised for their lack of success (and rightly so).

Pearce on the other hand is an organising halfback whose only been paired with a creative 5/8 once in his career (Todd Carney) and in their first season they took a solid roster to the Grand Final. His main role is to execute the game plan, this involves things like; organisation, directing play, controlling tempo, controlling field position and executing set plays (not so much if you play under Brian Smith ). Things not so noticeable to a lot of fans so he's consistently criticised when the team fails to score enough points to win games and can also be blamed for the clubs lack of success. He'll also not receive many plaudits when the team is going well, he'll be accepted as someone who is "doing well" or "doing all the little things right".

Two more examples;

Marshall is a creative 5/8 who hasn't been paired up with an organising halfback since Scott Prince left in 2006 hence why the Tigers can't make a grand final and I'll say it with confidence that even though they'll be a top 4 team they wont and can't make let alone win a Grand Final unless they pull an organising halfback out of their arse.

Jeff Robson is an organising halfback, an average player but was the perfect foil for Hayne & to some extent Morimter in 2009. When they lost their way it didn't take long and Robson was in and out of first grade and just as quickly off to Cronulla. It was no coincidence that after a slow start as soon as Robson came into the Sharks side in round 3 Carney start to kick on too...

Pairing a creative 5/8 & an organising halfback is the underlying factor in a good halves pairing.

Every now and then you get a freak who can be both a creator and an organiser or a player in another position who substitutes the role of the half. I'm talking about players like Joey Johns, Scott Prince at his peak, Lockyer certainly in the latter part of his career, Smith who organises the side from Dummy Half and Jaryd Hayne who basically is a 5/8 in attack.

I don't think you can win a premiership without an organising halfback, along with metre eating props it's the core basic of any good side. Teams substitute the roles every now and then and re-invent the game but an organiser is the one constant with any good team, they don't have to be great but there has to be one. Lucky for us we've got one of the best.

Unfortunately out of the Warriors great halves pairing we've signed the organiser and have failed to address our lack of creativity. But I can't be bothered getting into that now..

[Guest]

^Agree with Rooster_6