Former premiership-winning Newcastle coach Michael Hagan says Mitchell Pearce has been harshly treated by his critics for his form last year and believes the loss of the captaincy responsibilities can help him restore his reputation as one of the game's premier halfbacks this season.
In a boost for the club ahead of Friday night's season-opener against the Bulldogs, Pearce officially ended speculation over his future yesterday by announcing he had agreed to terms for a fifth season in Newcastle in 2022.
His announcement at a media conference was met with cheers and applause from the rest of the Knights squad, who have strongly supported him both publicly and privately following the controversy surrounding his text messaging scandal which made headlines over the summer.
Hagan believes the key for Pearce to be at his dominating best against the Bulldogs and throughout 2021 will be the 31-year-old playmaker concentrating on his own game and leaving teammates to sort themselves out.
"I think Mitchell has been unfairly criticised for the way he played last season if I'm being really honest," Hagan told the Newcastle Herald.
"He seems to cop a fair bit and a lot more than he should given that he played 18 games straight and led the side to the finals for the first time in a while.
"There's no doubt he is a resilient character. People lump it all on him at times but if your nine and six are changing all the time, which was the case quite often last season because of injury, it makes it hard on him.
"What can bring him undone at times is when he is guilty of trying to think for other players and do things for them.
"He found himself thinking and trying to adjudicate for them and I think when he really performs at his peak is when he is concentrating on his own role and doing what he does best.
"There aren't too many players who consistently play well when they are not fully focused on what they need to do themselves."
Hagan believes the loss of the captaincy will free him of some of that responsibility.
"You'd like to think he won't be worrying about others as much which I think will really help him. But obviously with no Kalyn Ponga and no Blake Green, he is still going to have to shoulder a lot as the main playmaker.
"What will help him is if the forward pack gets on the front foot and does their jobs - that will also impact on the level Mitchell will play at as well."
Pearce said he is happy to have negotiations for a new deal out of the way, claiming he was never interested in looking elsewhere.
"It's nice to stop the chatter for sure and lock in your future," he said. "Everyone wants to be secure with that. I couldn't be happier and my mind is purely on football now. Obviously there has been a lot of talk. I never wanted to go anywhere else. Since coming up here I am striving hard to achieve what we want to achieve. I see myself as a Knight now. I really want to get a job done with the boys and club up here.
"I still feel like I have plenty of footy ahead of me ... I don't want to put any limits on how long I play for. I still feel as fresh and hungry as I ever have."
