LEGENDS BACK PEARCE TALKS
Menzies, Toovey say Mitch would be good for Manly and club good for him
Jon Geddes
Mitchell Pearce scores in Origin 2 this year. Picture: Mark Evans
SEA Eagles legends Steve Menzies and Geoff Toovey say former Roosters halfback Mitchell Pearce would be a good signing and a welcome addition to the club.
Manly, Cronulla and Newcastle are vying for Pearce’s signature now that he is a free agent.
“He (Pearce) has been one of the club’s best players the last couple of seasons, I’m sure any club would stick their hand up and say, ‘Please come’,” Menzies said.
“Obviously he is a quality organiser … he is an amazing player, he would definitely bring a lot.”
Menzies’ message to Pearce is that there is a good culture at Manly and the club is on the rise with good young players coming through.
Toovey said Pearce was a great player who would be a good signing for any club. “But to have two quality halves in one team really pushes your salary cap to the brink,” he said. Manly have a vacancy in the halves after releasing five-eighth Blake Green to the Warriors. Toovey said it would not matter if Pearce or skipper Daly Cherry-Evans was halfback and the other five-eighth. “Realistically, what you want is an organisational halfback and probably a halfback that would run,” the former top halfback said.
The race for Pearce has hotted up with reports the Knights are set to offer him a $1.1 million a season deal.
Former Knights star and media personality Matty Johns has been pushing the case for Pearce to move to his former club.
“I’d love him to go to Newcastle... I just know how good it will be for Mitchell,” Johns said on his Triple M radio show.
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