All is forgiven and forgotten in Bondi.
Mitchell Pearce is reportedly now likely to return to the Roosters in a wild turn of events six years after he was sensationally shown the door.
The 2013 premiership winner and 19-game NSW Blues star played 309 NRL first grade games before leaving the country to play for Catalans in the English Super League.
Pearce raised eyebrows last week when he said he was open to a return to the NRL, and now The Daily Telegraph reports there has been a big development with the 34-year-old increasingly likely to return to the Chooks.
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News Corp reports Pearce is not being scouted as a playmaker, but is viewed as a preferred bench utility to wear the No. 14 jumper. That would put him on a collision course with Connor Watson and Drew Hutchison, who have been fighting for the No. 14 jumper and are out of contract.
However, the news will also pile more pressure on halfback Sam Walker after the rising star was sensationally dropped to reserve grade as the club tried to find answers for a surprisingly poor start to their 2023 campaign.
Pearce remains contracted for another season at Catalans, but appears to have the club’s blessing should he request a release.
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A return to Bondi would be a wild move after he was famously cut loose at the end of a finals flop in 2017 and brutally replaced Cooper Cronk. It was believed at the time that Roosters powerbrokers believed Pearce was not capable of leading the team to a premiership.
Pearce was released from the final year of his Newcastle Knights deal at the end of the 2021 NRL season to join Catalans.
Pearce had been linked to the Wests Tigers as a possible replacement for Luke Brooks, who is off contract at the end of the year, but he knocked that back which led to speculation that he’d finish his career in the south of France.
NRL 360 reported in March the Tigers were preparing a $1.5m two-year deal to lure Pearce back.
According to recent reports, it was not the first time the Tigers had spoken with Pearce.
Fox League co-host Paul Kent said at the time: “It stinks of desperation.
“What it does is it delays this whole five-year plan they’ve got. Every Tigers fan got sold on the five-year plan with Sheensy there for two years then Benji to take over for three more years and the best solution they come up with to fix their problems is to go to a halfback that hasn’t played in the competition for several years who is about to turn 34 years old, and chuck the two halves they’ve got out, one of which is on $1 million a year.”
The Tigers were reported to have also chased the likes of Cameron Munster and Mitchell Moses, as well as denying Brooks the opportunity to leave the club.
