Where's all you Pearce doubters now?

[Rooster_6]

We received 9-9 penalties against Manly mate and still had to defend a shitload in our own half. In the Broncos game we won the penalty count 8-7 but still found ourselves often trapped in our own 20m line. We are very much a side who still isnt able to dominate field position in close games. You can blame the referees all you want, but the lack of field position is often self-inflicted due to the team and its error counts. As well, our forwards dont quite get the roll on that other teams do unfortunately

Compounding this with the amount of errors we make and the penalties we concede makes life a lot harder. Some people will say "oh just be happy we're winning" but that's still not good enough. The team knows there is always room for improvement and that's the sort of attitude that Robbo has instilled in the team. I don't see anything wrong with adapting the same mentality as fans. We know we can improve in certain areas. If we want to be the best, then we need to always find improvement

And before you say it, i am very thrilled with where we are at. Thrilled with the defence and the character of the team

Don't disagree with a word of that.

Robbo always says in his press conferences that it's about the performance and not the result, I love his ideology on the game. We're in good hands.

[BUDDY]

http://www.foxsports.com.au/league/n...-1226645450064

Sydney Roosters playmaker Mitchell Pearce's best football is yet to come, says father Wayne

When you talk to Sydney Roosters halfback Mitchell Pearce it is easy to forget he is just 24.

Boasting a mature and confident demeanour, Pearce looks destined for rugby league greatness and after speaking with his father, Balmain legend Wayne Pearce, you realise why his inquisitive nature as a child has put him ahead of the rest.

"When he was quite young he used to watch me go through some of the old tapes at home and he would ask me questions about "why did you stop that one there for dad?", so from a very young age he was into the "why"behind things rather than look at the end result," Wayne reveals to Fox Sports.

"He is always looking for the rationale as to why things happen. That's always been in his nature."

In his sixth season as the Roosters' key playmaker, Pearce has had a career that would make most green with envy. He guided his team to a grand final in 2010, represented City Origin and featured in nine State of Origin matches for New South Wales.

And while he is yet to taste premiership success at the top level, his team is fast on track to another grand final appearance but his biggest hurdle is guiding the Blues to an Origin series win and ending Queensland's unprecedented seven-straight series victories.

According to Wayne, Mitchell is only on the brink of reaching his full potential as a player.

"I don't think he has peaked yet," Wayne said.

"There's plenty of improvement left in him, no doubt. He's going to continue to improve but whether he's going to peak this year or next year, I don't know. The really good halfbacks never peaked until their late 20s. It's a position unlike the others. As a halfback it's about learning how to control the game and the skilful aspects."

Burdened by the pressure of playing for a high-profile club team always in the spotlight, Mitchell has stamped 2013 as the year he sheds the metaphorical shackles.

The old saying "change with the times or be left behind" is something Mitchell strongly believes in, so much so he has had to change the way he plays. It is a change influenced largely by former Parramatta and North Sydney great Jason Taylor.

Taylor is an assistant coach at the Roosters and has been helping Pearce look at the game through a different set of eyes. In the past Pearce admits he has been guilty of overplaying his hand but under Taylor he is looking to reinvent himself as a playmaker.

"It was an area I needed developing," he said.

"I'm just trying to change the way I'm looking at games.

"Knowing when to come up with the big play was an area I definitely needed to develop. My skills and all of that stuff have always been right; I just needed to add that polish and I'll continue to work on it.

"(Jason Taylor) is one of the smartest blokes I've met in footy in terms of his knowledge of the game. He's always pointing out things I probably needed to develop in my game. That's all I can do at this point of the season and if I'm doing that I'll be playing good footy."

Mitchell has long had a head on his shoulders mature beyond his years. He has been playing in the age group above since he was 12 which is remarkable when you take into account that his parents wouldn't let him play until he was 11.

Wary of Mitchell trying to live up to Pearce name, Wayne made him experience other sports before playing the code which made him a household name. Mitchell ran the 800 metres at a national level but all he really wanted to do was play rugby league.

"I wouldn't let him play rugby league until he had experienced other sports," Wayne explains.

"(Mitchell) kept asking me could he play and when he was 11 we let him play for the first time and he showed straight away he had really good hand-eye co-ordination. He was tough, athletic and fast. He had all the raw materials."

With the first game of the 2013 Origin series just weeks away, Mitchell is favourite to guide the Blues around ANZ Stadium, a role he was destined to make his own.

"When Joey Johns was halfback he gave him his shorts and socks after one of the games," Wayne recalled of his time coaching the Blues.

"That was a pretty strong memory for him. It is quite ironic because he then went onto play halfback for Origin as well less than a decade later."

[Johnny.]

Well, Mitchell's not even close to his father's poontang tally, so of course he's got more to prove.

On Andrew Johns giving him his shorts, I hope he didn't leave any foils in them, that would have been embarrassing.

"Aw shit, that was some of Danny's best stuff", he may have said.

[Jacks Fur Coat]

You don't won five games in a row if your number 7 isn't playing well.

[Johnny.]

You don't win five games in a row if your number 7 isn't playing well.

I, for one, am not saying he's playing badly. He's just not a halfback, as he doesn't have a halfback's skill set.

Fittler could pass to a person 30 feet away from him, he was not a halfback.

[Jacks Fur Coat]

You don't win five games in a row if your number 7 isn't playing well.

I, for one, am not saying he's playing badly. He's just not a halfback, as he doesn't have a halfback's skill set.

Fittler could pass to a person 30 feet away from him, he was not a halfback.

You could be right there...

[Guest]

I, for one, am not saying he's playing badly. He's just not a halfback, as he doesn't have a halfback's skill set.

Fittler could pass to a person 30 feet away from him, he was not a halfback.

Ricky Stuart, Craig Bellamy, Laurie Daley, Brad Fitler, Jason Taylor, Phil Gould, Brian Smith and Trent Robinson must all be wrong then. An average bunch of coaches there that probably don't agree with you on that, given they all played/play him at halfback.