FYI this is the article I was referring to:
Mentor tips Mitchell Pearce to break 400-game mark after leaving Sydney Roosters
Nov 21, 2017
18 reading now
Advertisement
Mitchell Pearce's mentor has backed the halfback to go to the next level at his next club. Photo: AAP
The mentor guiding Mitchell Pearce believes the in-demand halfback will only get better at his new club and has the potential of breaking through the magical 400-game barrier.
Pearce is in high demand, with his manager emailing all 16 NRL clubs at 6:32pm on Monday night to inform them he is officially available. Manly, having released pivot Blake Green to the Warriors, are the early favourites for his signature. However, the Sea Eagles will struggle to get close to the money on offer elsewhere without moving a player and still have the cloud of the salary cap investigation hanging over Brookvale. Newcastle and Cronulla are also major contenders, with Brisbane and Melbourne also linked to the released Rooster.
Advertisement
One man who is watching the situation with interest is Pearce's mentor Allan Bell. Bell was the foundation coaching director at Newcastle and provided specialist halves tuition to Andrew and Matthew Johns for over a decade. Matthew Johns has likened discussing halves play with Bell to "talking to John Lennon about music", with Pearce the only current star still seeking out his advice.
Bell believes Pearce's departure from Bondi Junction will result in him taking his game to a new level.
"Mitchell has got a lot of ability and I can see him getting better," Bell said. "He's at an age where it's exceptional what he's done. Ten years of first grade and he's just 28. The more responsibility he gets, I can see him improving again and going to a new level. And I'm sure that's what he wants to do himself.
"He's got a lot of pride in his performances and he's always tough. That's why the premiership-winning coaches in the game have recognised his worth.
"He's very fit and durable, I can honestly see him playing at least seven years beyond now. He'll get smarter with a good side, you keep learning all the time and he'll go on and improve.
"Barring some catastrophic injury, he would go on for at least another seven years. He's got almost 250 games now, he'll be getting very close to the 400 if he's in a team that makes the semis."
Pearce is on the move after deciding against playing second fiddle to Roosters signing Cooper Cronk. However, Bell believes there are aspects of Pearce's game that are superior to Cronk's and even that of Immortal-in-waiting Johnathan Thurston.
"They've both got good motors but his is even better," Bell said.
"His defence is better, he's got a low missed tackle count and his support play is better than any other half in the game.
"He will run off forwards fearlessly from offloads better than they do. Thurston is a ball player rather than running into the valley of death off a forward. Mitchell will take the line on like a forward near the tryline, Andrew Johns did a bit of that.
"He does that better than they do it. He's also a longer kicker than any of them and his high balls go higher. No doubt they have the wood on him in a few areas. He's not number two or three in everything, he's number one in quite a few fields."
All of Pearce's suitors will make a compelling pitch. The Knights will can offer him in excess of $1 million per season and have already signed three of his former Roosters teammates, Shaun Kenny-Dowall, Aidan Guerra and Connor Watson. A move to Cronulla or Manly would make them genuine premiership contenders and improve his own chances of collecting a grand final win.
"He could almost pick a club out of the hat, he can't make a bad decision," Bell said.
http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/...-leaving-sydney-roosters-20171121-gzpzkc.html
