Mitchell Pearce is the right man for the Knights, for all the wrong reasons

Mitchell Pearce has become a poster boy for avoidable mistakes, too many second chances, and NRL mediocrity. If the Newcastle Knights rope him in to lead their title hopes for another season, they’re accepting the same.

Reports coming out of the Novocastrian camp are Mitchell Pearce has already been tabled a one-year extension. The deal will see him play in the red and blue for another two years — to the end of 2022.

The 31-year-old would no longer be the Knights captain, after being stripped of the honour at the height of his offseason drama, but he would still command the line as halfback.

The extension would see him paid $2m over those seasons.

That is, despite multiple misdemeanors, not least of all this latest sexting scandal that saw his extravagant Byron Bay wedding delayed, as well as a first-round finals exit to the Bunnies (46–20) in 2020 his only competitive achievement since heading north, the Knights are taking another punt on him.

Unfortunately, that makes him the perfect leader for the Newcastle Knights right now.

The Knights have been in the doldrums for some time now. It’s not all their fault; it’s decidedly tough to thrive in a competitive environment when you have hack jobs like Nathan Tinkler bumbling around at the helm, leaking money and fleeing the city.

Except, then there’s that seemingly rotten core at the heart of the team too.

It’s nothing sinister, really. More just the culture — and the cover-ups — have a ripple effect on the playing squad. When the team was banned from the Greenroof, a popular local pub, no one was shocked. Same too when it came out that one of the Saifiti twins had been fighting there just weeks before.

Equally, when the team was cut open by the Warriors, 36–6, and then the Titans weeks later, 36–6 again, the talk of the town was how many of the players had been out in Tamworth, or spotted on the Gold Coast on the eve of the must-win Round 20 clash.

Tongues wagged earlier in 2020 too, when the Knights rolled over to the Bulldogs.

Then you have Kalyn Ponga, who spends more time spruiking his “Goo-C” beers and mucking around on Instagram just as much as infamous rugby league bad boys like Corey Norman.

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The now-famous moment where the fast-footed fullback declared he was “having a nice strawberry thickshake” when he heard Nathan Brown had been sacked, so he “wasn’t too sad,” spoke volumes about his relationship with the previous coach and the leadership too.

So then, when you add a 31-year-old halfback that’s spent more on the wrong side of the game and the media than the right, who is expected to lead the young team, you start to get a bit worried.

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Instead, Newcastle’s powerbrokers have doubled-down in support of the former skipper.

Adam O’Brien told media that Pearce is still “such an important part of our team.” He may not hold the captaincy, but he’s still “very much needed,” the coach added.

The club’s head of recruitment, Clint Zammit, also reassured fans — or maybe worried them — that a Pearce extension had “always been the plan.” On that front, despite offseason dramas, “nothing has changed” either.

“He’s our halfback, he’s a leader, he’s a good person, and all things going ahead he’ll be here beyond this year,” Zammit said. “I think he’s (Pearce) still got a lot to offer in that senior role.”

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Newcastle is so sold on Pearce, despite everything, that they want him to leave his stamp on their new halves signing as well; Jake Clifford will be put directly under Mitch’s wing heading into 2021.

“I think he’s (Pearce) still got a lot to offer in that senior role and when we bring ‘Cliff’ in,’’ Zammit said.

“He [Clifford] could learn off Mitchell and grow as a player himself.”

So, it seems, Mitchell Pearce is the right person for the Knights right now, as they double down on a “family” culture that they sell in the media, but that doesn’t pop up as often out on the field.

Right now, as the Novocastrian outfit try to inject a new culture into their side, and square up the “winning ways” O’Brien has said he wants to bring back to the Hunter, the worst person to have right at the forefront of that charge — in the playing group, at least — is Mitchell Pearce.

If the Newcastle club wants to return to the very pinnacle of the NRL, and challenge for titles, they won’t do it with Pearce as a leader in the ranks on-field and off.

If, however, they want to stick to the mediocrity they fell into in the 2010s, and continue that streak into the ’20s, then, by all means, draw up another year of $1 million for the star right at the center of putting Newcastle on the wrong track.

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With Newcastle’s powerbrokers seemingly fine to accept the second option, Mitchell Pearce seems the perfect man for the Knights. For Newy’s sake, though, let’s hope we’re wrong.

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