All the talk from the NSW camp has been how composed Mitchell Pearce was this week. How – in his third coming in the Origin arena – that this was a different Pearce, in his 13th Origin. Having watched on as Trent Hodkinson and Josh Reynolds did something he had not been able to achieve – winning an Origin series – last year, Pearce came into the match under more pressure than anyone. This time Pearce was different. At ease with his selection, at ease with himself. Pearce more than eased his way back into rugby league's biggest stage, and finished with a tidy effort.
After getting a touch in the opening set, Pearce did not run the ball to the line until midway through the first half. It was nothing special, but did enough to create some doubt in the Queensland defensive line.
Despite spending the bulk of his time at the Roosters parked on the right edge, Pearce and Hodkinson interchanged when on the attack. Pearce defended on the right side of the field and played first receiver at times on that side of the field. However, Blues coach Laurie Daley opted against pigeonholing either half. And eventually it worked.
Pearce – taking the ball to the line – drifted sideways, just enough to create indecision in the Maroons defence for Beau Scott to charge onto the ball and carry multiple defenders over the try line to give the Blues the lead.
His next carry also created points, dragged just short of the try line after a neat left foot step. While his running and passing game was direct, Pearce's kicking game was solid without producing many opportunities. Most of his first half kicks were aimed at Queensland fullback Billy Slater, with few attacking raids. Pearce almost created a try for Roosters teammate Daniel Tupou. A cross-field last tackle kick found a leaping Tupou who sailed over opposite Will Chambers to claim the ball. Tupou was tackled metres short of the line – had Pearce found the in-goal Tupou would have added a third first half try for the Blues.
His first error came just after half-time as he tried to scoop a loose off-load from skipper Robbie Farah. It set the tempo for a poor second half by the Blues. NSW struggled to get out of their own end for most of the half.
