He's been the unofficial leader of the Sydney Roosters for some time, but the addition of the captaincy has done little to hamper the development of Mitchell Pearce.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Roosters No.7 was the star of the show in Sunday's 34-6 victory against the Canberra Raiders at Allianz Stadium, playing a hand in five of his side's six tries.
Taking over from club legend Anthony Minichiello as the captain of the Tricolours was always going to be a huge test for Pearce, but over the opening month of the season he has shown no difficulty in juggling the leadership role with his responsibility in directing the team around the paddock.
Pearce, the sole captain with co-captain Jake Friend out through injury, has tried not to change his game as a result of the additional responsibility, adamant his main priority was his play-making ability. "It's a little transition and you pick up on new things all the time," Pearce said.
"For me, I'm a halfback for the team first and foremost and obviously me and Jake are learning and growing in the role as captain. I'm focused on being the best halfback I can for the team and obviously building on my leadership stuff."
Roosters coach Trent Robinson echoed the sentiment of his new captain, pleased with his development and the mentality of his halfback.
"He's explained that perfectly," Robinson said of Pearce's comments. "Understanding that as captain, you can lose focus on being our halfback and being our leader. All halfbacks should be some style of captain on the field anyway, so he didn't have to change a lot from that.
"He's growing in that role and I feel like he's doing a real good job and Jake is supporting that off the field. That's exactly how to think about it."
Pearce was the only member of the Roosters backline not to cross for a four-pointer against the Raiders, but he was arguably the best player on the paddock.
While both he and Robinson joked about it being his best game "ever", Robinson acknowledged the form with which his No.7 has opened the season.
"I thought he's been really strong," Robinson said. "The kicking he's had over the first month has been exceptional. I thought North Queensland (round one) was a huge game for Junior up there in his first day as captain and the way he led us around.
"The thing people don't realise about Junior's game is that he was in control of our whole attack ... so he had to keep us on track while we were trying different stuff and he did that well. We were never lost at all, and that was because of Junior keeping us all on target there."
Former Roosters coach Ricky Stuart didn't have a happy outing in his return to his old stomping ground.
Stuart paid tribute to his old club, describing their roster as the benchmark of the competition.
"We all go 'wow' about that roster they've got," Stuart said. "Not from a jealousy point of view, but that's what I've got aspire to. They are the benchmark. We've got to aspire to getting that type of roster. We've got to keep developing our own and bringing people into our squad.
"That's where our aspirations have to be...towards building a really, really strong roster that can compete against that type of team if we ever think we're going to be a top four team."
