Mitchell Pearce has put his hand up, declaring he’s coming off his worst personal performance of an NRL season that is now on life support for Newcastle.
In a 2019 campaign marked by some big highs for veteran halfback Pearce, he says he hit a distinct low in last week’s 30-6 hammering from Manly.
Their fifth straight loss left the Knights two points outside the top eight, having slumped from a mid-season position of finals comfort.
While Mason Lino endured a difficult afternoon at Lottoland, captain Pearce wouldn’t hear criticism of his young halves partner, believing his own performance should attract scrutiny.
Four weeks after helping steer NSW to victory in the State of Origin decider, the 30-year-old was erratic in a second half won 22-0 by the Sea Eagles.
“I let Mase down. I didn’t play well at the weekend, I had probably my worst game of the year, especially that second half,” Pearce told journalists.
“Mase is doing well. He’s a good young player. We have had a lot of changes in our side but there’s no excuse. It’s about winning and when you’re not winning you’ve got to find ways.”
Newcastle will hope Saturday’s game against Parramatta presents a positive omen.
They had lost five in a row before beating the Eels at home in round seven to spark a six-match winning streak.
Pearce said the match was clearly in the must-win category but pointed out his side had approached their last two games with that mindset, to no avail.
“It’s not that we’re not trying to find an answer,” he said.
“It’s been happening in sport for a long time. People go in lows, it’s not ideal, we’re not happy about it but we’ve got to somehow create a win this week.
“It has happened before so we’ll be confident going into Parramatta.”
While Pearce couldn’t pinpoint why the season had turned for the worse, hooker Connor Watson was more outspoken.
Watson said the Knights’ physicality, especially on defence, had simply been found wanting.
“I think we’ve lost our edge a bit, our steel in us, especially when games get hard,” Watson said.
“When it’s got hard for us, probably since eight weeks ago, we’ve crumbled a bit against teams, which is not what we’ve built this team on.”
