Gould on Pearce today

[Guest]

Pearce was 7th in dalyMs last yr in a team that won only 7 or 8 games

Also was in the top4 in stats against other halfbacks

By the way other then his 2 flukey kicks Adam Reynolds did jack shit he also bombed the last tackle option 7 times in a row at the line,,,,,,never has line break assits or any sence of passing just a kick

Reynolds should play soccer not league

[stsae]

I understand both sides of the argument here and agree with what most have said.

I don't believe Pearce has had the advantages of coaching and players around him that say a Reynolds or a Cronk or a DCE have had. Not saying he's as good as them but swap any of them with Pearce and it would be interesting to see how he was traveling.

I get extremely frustrated watching him fail to get repeat sets or the odd 40-20. Last week he got a nice repeat set early and then put every single one dead after that. It tells me he struggles with the feel for the game and panics under pressure. And that's exactly how his former 1/2s partner and captain plays. Tells me he learnt alot from the master of disaster.

With Carntey in 2010 he had his best year in 1st grade. He actually played some very good footy. Shit Carnteys made Robson look good.

I guess we have no choice other than to watch and hope he develops mentally. He has the physical attributes, he has the expierence he needs to discover patience and finesse.

I want to like him. I want him to do better. I just don't know if he ever will.

The coaching IMO is key with 1/2s. Let's hope our new coach finally flicks the switch in Pearce.

[Guest]

If both the Reynolds boys get the nod for Origin it is better for both us and the Sharks because that timeframe is the best to dominate over teams without their stars in the line-ups.

Personally, I think Pearce is, has and always will be a top class half back and could come close to being one of the greatest the games ever seen. He is still young as there is alot more maturing still required.

[Cockadoodledoo]

If both the Reynolds boys get the nod for Origin it is better for both us and the Sharks because that timeframe is the best to dominate over teams without their stars in the line-ups.

Personally, I think Pearce is, has and always will be a top class half back and could come close to being one of the greatest the games ever seen. He is still young as there is alot more maturing still required.

You must be watching a different player to the one I am watching. He is a solid first grader who tends to struggle when a game is on the line. In my lifetime I have seen Mortimer, Sterling, Stuart, Alexander, Langer,Johns etc and Pearce cannot hold a candle to them. He doesn't have a running game and his kicking game is no where near the class of the those players, even when they were even younger than he is.

[Guest]

You must be watching a different player to the one I am watching. He is a solid first grader who tends to struggle when a game is on the line. In my lifetime I have seen Mortimer, Sterling, Stuart, Alexander, Langer,Johns etc and Pearce cannot hold a candle to them. He doesn't have a running game and his kicking game is no where near the class of the those players, even when they were even younger than he is.

Absolutely agree that Pearce is nowhere near the players you mentioned (though Alexander seemed odd in that list).

Realistically, though, neither is any other 7 in the comp.

[Guest]

Souths have gone well since Reynolds came into first grade but that also corresponds with Maguire taking over and Inglis moving to fullback - both critical changes for Souths. From what I have seen of Reynolds, he is a lot like Soward - great kicking game and good pace but not much else. Soward is now a player that will likely be playing in England soon.

The NSW halfback role is starting to have the same mistique as the parra halfback job - a curse.

Yeah, Souffs played real well when Reynalds left the field injured in the major final against the dogs.

They fell in a hole and were smoked.

Some players Are winners, some Are Not.

Unfortunately we have the "Are Not" wearing our number 7, whilst lol@souffs have the "Are"

[Guest]

If both the Reynolds boys get the nod for Origin it is better for both us and the Sharks because that timeframe is the best to dominate over teams without their stars in the line-ups.

Personally, I think Pearce is, has and always will be a top class half back and could come close to being one of the greatest the games ever seen. He is still young as there is alot more maturing still required.

How are you Mrs Pearce??

[Cockadoodledoo]

Absolutely agree that Pearce is nowhere near the players you mentioned (though Alexander seemed odd in that list).

Realistically, though, neither is any other 7 in the comp.

Alexander is an example of a guy who had a lot more class than Pearce, was able to perform at a very high standard at a young age and yes he is behind the other guys but this just goes to show how far behind those players Pearce is. He won't even go down as one of the best players of his generation yet alone an all time great halfback.

[Rooster_6]

Reynolds has shown more skill in that 25 games than Pearce has in his whole career.

In 25 games Adam Reynolds has 1 linebreak assist to his name, that's someone who you believe should be playing the highest level of the game, SOO?

[Rooster_6]

I understand both sides of the argument here and agree with what most have said.

I don't believe Pearce has had the advantages of coaching and players around him that say a Reynolds or a Cronk or a DCE have had. Not saying he's as good as them but swap any of them with Pearce and it would be interesting to see how he was traveling.

I get extremely frustrated watching him fail to get repeat sets or the odd 40-20. Last week he got a nice repeat set early and then put every single one dead after that. It tells me he struggles with the feel for the game and panics under pressure. And that's exactly how his former 1/2s partner and captain plays. Tells me he learnt alot from the master of disaster.

With Carntey in 2010 he had his best year in 1st grade. He actually played some very good footy. Shit Carnteys made Robson look good.

I guess we have no choice other than to watch and hope he develops mentally. He has the physical attributes, he has the expierence he needs to discover patience and finesse.

I want to like him. I want him to do better. I just don't know if he ever will.

The coaching IMO is key with 1/2s. Let's hope our new coach finally flicks the switch in Pearce.

Robson is a passable First Grade halfback, he's an organising halfback which suits Carney just fine and makes them a strong combo.

The reason Pearce played so well with Carney was because Carney was the creative outlet, when we needed to play something off the cuff and play outside of a structure Carney was the go to guy. Since Carney left, effectively in 2011 Pearce has been required to be the creative outlet AND the organiser of the side. No halfback since Johns has been able to combine the two together to a high enough standard for first grade. Take Sutton, Luke & Inglis away from Reynolds; put the creative AND organising responsibilities on his shoulders and I guarantee he wouldn't look half the player he is today.

When Carney first arrived at the Sharks he was put in the halfback position but only lasted two weeks, he came out and said that trying to be the organiser and creative outlet was just too hard and it had affected his game. Said he just can't do the things a player like Pearce can. Thurston was exactly the same, although he had some decent success at halfback. But as soon as the opportunity came up to play 5/8 again he jumped at it. Benji Marhsall another great example of a 5/8 who struggled trying to take on both the roles of being the creator and organiser and really as a player hasn't reached anywhere near the heights he did whilst playing with Prince.

Unfortunately for Pearce; and I predicted this pre-season he's been paired with a 5/8 who could quite as easily just play halfback and prefers to play within a structure much like Pearce, he really doesn't add that creative option that we need so bad. However Robinson whether he holds the same opinion as me or not made a very brave call of playing a traditional halfback and 5/8 structure as opposed to the popular split halves that every other side in the comp employs. This is going to take time to click, it's a structure neither would have played in since even entering grade but it may just work. The other issue is the fullback, nearly every other half in the comp has a fullback who relieves some of the creative pressures, ours does not.

Pearce has carried a lot of responsibility on his shoulders ever since entering grade but done it admirably imo, being in the top 10 try assist and line break assists category year after year. But that will still never be good enough for his detractors who want him to be both the creative AND organising outlet in the team despite no other half in the comp bar Thurston doing so, although he has always had Bowen to take some of the pressure off in creating tries by his side. Essentially until he's Thurston or Johns his detractors wont be happy.

The only time Pearce has had a creative option either at fullback or 5/8? 2010, 'coincidentally' his best year...

The key for Robinson is finding those options at 5/8 and fullback that will share the responsibilities of coming up with points and allow Pearce to play his natural game. Just like Foran, Ballin and Stewart do for DCE, Just like Inglis, Luke & Sutton do for Reynolds and just like Slater, Widdop & Smith do for Cronk.

[Ray Stehr]

The way I look at it, supporting a club means that you support all the players and everyone else involved.

You're not going to like everyone or necessarily think they are good enough but you should still support them.

From what I've seen, all you do is criticise Pearce. We all criticise players but you don't even recognise when he plays a good game.

Pretty pathetic IMO

Na I critisize all the crap players but we've seen alot of them move on which is why the club is set for a much better year, when we get rid of Friend and Pearce we may even win a comp.

[Ray Stehr]

look if ray hates pearce its his choice, ive been a long term hater of fil bloody graham and the dumbassed waqi for years. they are both shit and waqi is so roided up his heart will pop. so leave ray to eat his humple pie in september by him self

I've been waiting to eat that humble pie for six years.

[Ray Stehr]

Reynolds, at the moment, is a one trick pony.

That's one more trick than Pearce has.

[Ray Stehr]

Pearce isn't even the best hafback that we have.

[stringaz]

Robson is a passable First Grade halfback, he's an organising halfback which suits Carney just fine and makes them a strong combo.

The reason Pearce played so well with Carney was because Carney was the creative outlet, when we needed to play something off the cuff and play outside of a structure Carney was the go to guy. Since Carney left, effectively in 2011 Pearce has been required to be the creative outlet AND the organiser of the side. No halfback since Johns has been able to combine the two together to a high enough standard for first grade. Take Sutton, Luke & Inglis away from Reynolds; put the creative AND organising responsibilities on his shoulders and I guarantee he wouldn't look half the player he is today.

When Carney first arrived at the Sharks he was put in the halfback position but only lasted two weeks, he came out and said that trying to be the organiser and creative outlet was just too hard and it had affected his game. Said he just can't do the things a player like Pearce can. Thurston was exactly the same, although he had some decent success at halfback. But as soon as the opportunity came up to play 5/8 again he jumped at it. Benji Marhsall another great example of a 5/8 who struggled trying to take on both the roles of being the creator and organiser and really as a player hasn't reached anywhere near the heights he did whilst playing with Prince.

Unfortunately for Pearce; and I predicted this pre-season he's been paired with a 5/8 who could quite as easily just play halfback and prefers to play within a structure much like Pearce, he really doesn't add that creative option that we need so bad. However Robinson whether he holds the same opinion as me or not made a very brave call of playing a traditional halfback and 5/8 structure as opposed to the popular split halves that every other side in the comp employs. This is going to take time to click, it's a structure neither would have played in since even entering grade but it may just work. The other issue is the fullback, nearly every other half in the comp has a fullback who relieves some of the creative pressures, ours does not.

Pearce has carried a lot of responsibility on his shoulders ever since entering grade but done it admirably imo, being in the top 10 try assist and line break assists category year after year. But that will still never be good enough for his detractors who want him to be both the creative AND organising outlet in the team despite no other half in the comp bar Thurston doing so, although he has always had Bowen to take some of the pressure off in creating tries by his side. Essentially until he's Thurston or Johns his detractors wont be happy.

The only time Pearce has had a creative option either at fullback or 5/8? 2010, 'coincidentally' his best year...

The key for Robinson is finding those options at 5/8 and fullback that will share the responsibilities of coming up with points and allow Pearce to play his natural game. Just like Foran, Ballin and Stewart do for DCE, Just like Inglis, Luke & Sutton do for Reynolds and just like Slater, Widdop & Smith do for Cronk.

Great Post, I still have faith in pearce, will be good to see robbo scrub off the muck that smithy left and see our players shine more and more this year. Moreso than anyone friend, as i think he needs the most improvement.