Wayne Pearce

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Wayne John Pearce (born Balmain, New South Wales, March 29, 1960), was an Australian rugby league player, an athletic Lock Forward for the Balmain Tigers. He was affectionately known as Junior.

He represented New South Wales in the State of Origin Series. He represented the Australian national rugby league team.

Pearce was captain of the Balmain Tigers rugby league club from 1982 - 1990. He made his debut in 1980 and was quickly marked as a future star. By his retirement in 1990, Pearce was credited as a player who changed the face of rugby league through a great dedication to fitness. During his career his athleticism and staying power overcame his oft-noted lack of natural ability for rugby league.

[edit] Representative Career

Not heavily framed for a league forward at only 88 kg, Pearce nonetheless became so good a lock forward with Balmain by the time of the 1982 Kangaroo tour that he was an automatic selection even with Ray Price having a monopoly on the Test lock position. On the tour, Pearce was moved into the second row to accommodate Price, but took over the lock position permanently after Price retired from international rugby league in 1984.

In the State of Origin arena Pearce was a proud New South Welshman who wore his heart on his sleeve. He played 15 matches for NSW between 1983 and 1988 and was captain on 10 occasions,

[edit] Captaincy

Pearce's captaincy proved critical in elevating Balmain from also-rans to a force of the 1980s, in concert with Steve Roach, Benny Elias and later Paul Sironen. Along with fullback Garry Jack, they drove Balmain to the semi-finals in 1983 and every year from 1985 to Pearce's retirement. Pearce won the Rothman's Medal for the best-and-fairest player in 1985, but missed out on the Kangaroo tour the following year after controversially failing a fitness test (he felt himself fit enough to tour).

In 1986 Pearce captained the New South Wales Blues to their first ever State of Origin cleansweep, but in the following two years there was to be a rapid decline, with Queensland easily winning every match in 1988. After this, Pearce stood down from representative rugby league, despite pressure for him to return after Queensland won even more easily in 1989.

Pearce captained the Balmain Tigers to two successive grand finals in 1988 and 1989, both of which they lost. In 1990, Pearce could not play a full match until the seventeenth round, but for the rest of the season he was at his best, seen clearly in the play-off for fifth with Newcastle, when he scored a crucial try from a bomb and carted the ball forward as fearlessly as ever. The following week, though, proved to be his last match as Balmain lost 0-16, sparking a major decline in the club's fortunes after Pearce's retirement.

[edit] Coaching

There was always speculation Pearce would coach Balmain after his retirement, and he did so after the sacking of controversially appointed former union coach Alan Jones at the end of 1993 after three disappointing seasons. Owing to financial problems, Pearce was never able to bring Balmain back to prominence, and as a result of the pressure resulting from the ARL/Super League civil war between 1995 and 1997, they were forced to merge with Wests after the 1999 season.

Pearce also coached NSW, and recorded the largest win in State of Origin history in Game 3 of the 2000 series.

Preceded by: Alan Jones 1991-1993	Coach Balmain Tigers 1994-1999	Succeeded by: team formed a joint venture with Wests
Preceded by: team formed as joint venture between Balmain and Wests	Coach Wests Tigers 2000	Succeeded by: Terry Lamb 2001-2002