Wayne Pearce

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Wayne John Pearce OAM (born 29 March 1960 in Balmain, New South Wales) is an Australian former rugby league footballer and coach. An athletic Lock Forward for the Balmain Tigers, he was affectionately known as 'Junior'. Pearce represented New South Wales in the State of Origin Series as well as the Australian national rugby league team.

Pearce was captain of the Balmain Tigers rugby league club from 1982–1990. He made his debut in 1980 and was quickly marked as a future star. By his retirement in 1990, Pearce was credited as a player who changed the face of rugby league through a great dedication to fitness. During his career his athleticism and staying power overcame his oft-noted lack of natural ability for rugby league.

Pearce's son, Mitchell is a half-back for the Sydney Roosters.

Representative career

Not heavily framed for a league forward at only 88 kg, Pearce nonetheless became so good at lock forward with Balmain by the time of the 1982 Kangaroo tour that he was an automatic selection even with Ray Price having a monopoly on the Test lock position. On the tour, Pearce was moved into the second row to accommodate Price, but took over the lock position permanently after Price retired from international rugby league in 1984.

Captaincy

Pearce's captaincy proved critical in elevating Balmain from also-rans to a force of the 1980s, in concert with Steve Roach, Benny Elias and later Paul Sironen. Along with fullback Garry Jack, they drove Balmain to the semi-finals in 1983 and every year from 1985 to Pearce's retirement. Pearce won the Rothman's Medal for the best-and-fairest player in 1985, but missed out on the Kangaroo tour the following year after controversially failing a fitness test (he felt himself fit enough to tour).

In 1986 Pearce captained the New South Wales Blues to their first ever State of Origin clean-sweep, but in the following two years there was to be a rapid decline, with Queensland easily winning every match in 1988. After this, Pearce stood down from representative rugby league, despite pressure for him to return after Queensland won even more easily in 1989. In 1988 he was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia "for service to rugby league".

Pearce captained the Balmain Tigers to two successive grand finals in 1988 and 1989, both of which they lost. In 1990, Pearce could not play a full match until the seventeenth round, but for the rest of the season he was at his best, seen clearly in the play-off for fifth with Newcastle, when he scored a crucial try from a bomb and carted the ball forward as fearlessly as ever. The following week, though, proved to be his last match as Balmain lost 0–16, sparking a major decline in the club's fortunes after Pearce's retirement.

Accolades

In February 2008, Pearce was named in the list of Australia's 100 Greatest Players (1908-2007) which was commissioned by the NRL and ARL to celebrate the code's centenary year in Australia.^[1][2]

Coaching

There was always speculation Pearce would coach Balmain after his retirement, and he did so after the sacking of controversially appointed former union coach Alan Jones at the end of 1993 after three disappointing seasons. Owing to financial problems, Pearce was never able to bring Balmain back to prominence, and as a result of the pressure resulting from the Super League war between 1995 and 1997, they were forced to merge with Wests after the 1999 season.

Pearce also coached NSW, and recorded the largest win in State of Origin history in Game 3 of the 2000 series.

Post retirement

Pearce now works as a rugby league commentator for Fox Sports. Pearce also fronts the rock cover band Wayne Pearce and the Big Hitters that performs locally around Sydney's inner West. He runs a team-building consultancy through his organisation Wayne Pearce Advantage, and is a sought-after motivation speaker. He is a supporter of the controversial Landmark Education Forum, claiming that his experience with the program offered new insights into his life.

References

External links

• Wayne Pearce at the State of Origin official website.