Mitchell Pearce.........On a Serious Note

[Guest]

people wanted him to be what he wasnt going to be and are angry and some just flat out dont know anything about rugby league so he is their target because he doesn't play like andrew johns i really dont know why pearce is discussed so much

[The Thracian]

The First Try was due to a lack of numbers, the pass was good but it was a pretty stock standard play where we just didn't count properly. We had 5 defenders on the left, 4 on the right & 4 under the posts. Pretty basic mistake, you gotta have 5 on each side and if you don't one of the middles has gotta work hard to slide quickly.

Pearce gets caught defending an unders line from the 2nd rower, Aubusson gets caught defending the numbers out the back and Aloiai changes his run last second and runs a nice out line for Brooks. Just poor concentration from us on last tackle, probably expecting the kick and just lapsed.

2nd try there was a few issues, Guerra needed to slide off the tackle quicker, Tetevano didn't cover the inside hard enough, Pearce got caught ball watching & Ferguson was way too deep (in fairness probably covering the potential kick). There were a number of ways we could've shut that play down but just got found wanting on all of them which was really disappointing. Again right on the half-time siren you gotta wonder if they just clocked off a little bit.

This is the First post that should be placed in the dribble section, why confuse the truth with rubbish, it was 2 poor attempts, an arm grab and lazy play by the same guy, stop defending the player who was the problem, he admitted himself at halftime he was at fault, his confidence for the rest of the game was shot as a result, let's just hope for the team he gets his mojo back comes semis time

[4 the all in brawl]

Good thread...

As R6 mentioned I noticed some different plays from the lads last night. One or two involved Pearce wider at second receiver with Keary or Gordon looping around for what appears to be the traditional sweep block however Cordner running a late crash inside line recieved the ball unlike most teams which run the edge backrower earlier and more straight.It didnt come off as execution wasnt perfect but it baffled.me and sure didnt look easy to defend. It gave me some hope Robbo and JT have been refining our attack and it definitely did create some problems and will make goal line defences second think drag out slide defence most teams employ on their goal line.

[Red_Rooster]

Pearce plays best when a good running six takes some of the load off him - we've seen it with Carney, Maloney and Keary (who imho is the quietest of the three). He was never going to be a Thurston or Cam Smith, but still he's easily one of the best team halves in the game and up until recently one of the best defenders. They need to sort that right edge out, with Aubusson playing outside him instead of in I think the communication is broken.

If we want to see the best out of Pearce, I feel that Keary needs to call for the ball more and become a more dominant 6.

[4 the all in brawl]

I was standing the end of the field brooks passed left for Tigers first try. It was a great pass, went like a rocket and the tigers backrower did well hitting it at speed to take it. Not much you could really do if you are not exactly in the right spot to crunch the reciever as the pass was very good.

The second try wasnt one of Pearce's better defensive efforts though. Guerra and him together can be a bit of a worry at times.

[stringaz]

Benji & Milford play completely different roles to Pearce though. There's no doubt they have more time with ball in hand partially due to their evasiveness but largely due to the fact they're receiving the ball at 2nd receiver 2 or 3 passes wide of the ruck where there's always going to be more space.

Pearce is a traditional first receiver so he's there to create space for his second receiver and outside men by organising the side and directing play. Pearce isn't a bad second receiver, in fact his pass selection is excellent and something we used to see a lot from him under Brian Smith but under Robbo he's had to refine his game and become a specialist halfback who does all the organising and very little of the ball playing which is why you always hear Robbo talk about his organisational play being up there with the best in the game when he doesn't feel like he's getting the recognition he deserves.

There was a good example of Pearce's pass selection from second receiver yesterday, it was a rare sight to see Keary passing to Pearce;

https://youtu.be/t8HHtFgZ5jo?t=9m46s

Was interesting to hear Robbo say post game they tried some new things in attack last night, some that came off and some that didn't. I wonder if pushing Pearce a little wider on set plays as a variation might be one of them. You can see opposition coaches have really highlighted the Pearce/Keary combo by putting a huge focus on a lot of inside pressure and line speed applied to Pearce lately, switching them around every now and then might just catch a few teams out.

True that. I guess we should be comparing Keary to thurston from now on. And I probs should have used Ben Hunt as a better example.

I think after this thread is exhausted we've learnt that its not up to Pearce to do everything and "own the result".

I would like to see him go through the line like he did in the 2014 prelim, burning G.I in the process now and again. It was an awesome sight.