'I see nothing wrong with Mitchell Pearce': Phil Gould backing maligned halfback's potential Blues return
Legendary former Blues coach Phil Gould has backed Mitchell Pearce for an Origin III return if Nathan Cleary is unable to recover in time from his ankle injury.
Despite Cleary being unable to run just 10 days out from the Origin decider, he was picked in Brad Fittler’s NSW squad, but faces a race against time to be fit.
After Cleary rolled his ankle in the first half of Origin II, versatile veteran Wade Graham did an admirable job filling in alongside James Maloney.
However, despite Graham’s impressive performance, Gould said he’d rather bring in another halfback and keep Graham in his valuable bench role.
“I think Wade Graham is so valuable off the bench,” Gould told 100% Footy.
Mitchell Pearce could still make his long-awaited return to the Blues squad AAP
“If you start with Wade Graham, who’s played a limited amount of football so far this year, I won’t say that he won’t handle it and won’t do a good job, but then who do you bring in in that versatile role on the bench?
“Wade’s such an asset there. If something happens to Boyd Cornder or Tyson Frizell, he can jump into all those positions and he’s your most senior and versatile bloke on the bench. He’s very valuable there.
“I love a really strong bench and I see nothing wrong with Mitchell Pearce if they’ve got to call on him.”
While Gould gave a vote of confidence for Pearce to fill in, he was bullish about Cleary being fit to take part in Origin III, and said the Panthers’ medical staff had rated the halfback a 70-30 chance to play Game Three.
“The Panthers’ medical staff have been pretty confident from day one that he’d be right to play,” he said.
Graham was outstanding deputising for Cleary but Gould prefers him in a bench role AAP
“I don’t think there’s any worry if he can get himself through to game day.
“They’re pretty confident. They know him and they know his injury and his body pretty well and Nathan’s a pretty resilient kid. I’ll back him in.”
With Cleary’s injury status up in the air, Gould said that if he were in Fittler’s position, he would ensure that Graham was able to get reps in the halfback position during training camp.
“What I would do in the first part of camp is give Wade Graham an opportunity to train at No.6,” he said.
“If he’s needed for Game Three, he’ll get more training at No.6 in Game Three than he did in Game Two.
Will Nathan Cleary be able to ditch the crutches in time for the July 10 decider? AAP
“I’d imagine that before they break their camp up on Friday, he will have liked to have seen Nathan Cleary run flat out. Whether that’s possible by Friday remains to be seen.”
Former Blues skipper Paul Gallen agreed that Cleary needed to participate in training due to the importance of the position he plays for the team.
“Because it’s such an important position, I think he does have to train by the back end of the week,” Gallen told 100% Footy.
“If he was a backrower or frontrower that needs to listen to the halfbacks and lay field position and let the halves play off that, I can understand a little bit more leniency.
“Being a halfback and being a general in the team, by the back end of the week Freddy would like to see him play.”
