Pearce has never recovered form Origin or his repeat stupidities.

[Vasco]

I would go all out for Ash Taylor if the Roosters are looking for another half back. But like I posted before whilst ever Robbo is in charge Pearce will be be the half back. Finishing in the top 4 most years since Robbo has been coach will see Pearce remain. I actually would make him the solo captain to see if that will propel him to the level that some people on here want to see.

These points could lead to his sacking if we don’t make the GF next year.

[Insider]

Neither of us know for certain what he is on. It would be commonsense that he is earning less than a Thurston or Cronk. Also take into account the $300k long service discount now only shared by Pearce/Friend/Maubs.

Out of Interest, which halfback would you buy? IMO buying Cronk at a premium would be insanity, and there are no other decent halfbacks available without chewing up a big chunk of our salary cap. Even Ash Taylor would be commanding a premium. Our only option would be to invest in young promising halfbacks and be prepared to shift Pearce to hooker (or bench ala Watson) during a transition period. I don't see that happening until at least 2020.

The long service discount would only have any relevance to Pearce if he was the only player we had that qualified. Otherwise it has no bearing on our cap t all. It doesn't have to be split amongst all the long serving players, it can be claimed by any one of Pearce Aubbo Friend or Hargreaves

[Nicola Tesla]

I guess we expect a lot from our halves as we have had some damn good ones going all the way back to Mayes/Fulton/Hastings/Lam/Fittler etc... We just like to have a great half to watch tear teams apart. Ive never ever seen Junior do that.
Ive seen Norman and Moses do it, Ive seen Brookes and Taylor do i, even the young Cronk under study looks better already (Croft??). Cleary and Moylan look better.....etc...etc..
Pearce, good solid player, we look better with him than without but that doesn't mean we look great. He is not a leader and the half needs to be a leader!!
I would love to see Cronk here for a year then bring a new kid through...the Pearce experiment has gone on way too long... and I like him as a player and seems to be maturing as a person..

[Jacks Fur Coat]

I guess we expect a lot from our halves as we have had some damn good ones going all the way back to Mayes/Fulton/Hastings/Lam/Fittler etc... We just like to have a great half to watch tear teams apart. Ive never ever seen Junior do that.
Ive seen Norman and Moses do it, Ive seen Brookes and Taylor do i, even the young Cronk under study looks better already (Croft??). Cleary and Moylan look better.....etc...etc..
Pearce, good solid player, we look better with him than without but that doesn't mean we look great. He is not a leader and the half needs to be a leader!!
I would love to see Cronk here for a year then bring a new kid through...the Pearce experiment has gone on way too long... and I like him as a player and seems to be maturing as a person..

Very good summary Nic.

[dice]

This year was lost with errors, and lack of depth to cover for SKD and Tupes. Throwing large chunks of our salary cap at another halfback doesn't solve either of those problems.

IMO Cronk has ridden off Smith's coattail and not the match-winner people think he is.

[dice]

Whilst I am in rant mode...the presence of x-factor players like SBW attract defenders and hence created extra space for those around them including our halves. We have this to a degree when Mitchell plays in the centres, and again when Teddy joins us. That is the major signing we needed to make. My only concern is defence and lack of depth out wide. If Manu learns to tackle and Fergo stops smoking weed pre-game we will dominate the comp.