Fears that the scars of this year's State of Origin series have held back Mitchell Pearce will be put to the test when the Sydney Roosters bid a stop to the run of a giant-killing North Queensland side being steered superbly by Michael Morgan.

Statistics indicate the Roosters No.7 hasn't been the same player since the disappointment of Origin III on July 12 then he was before winning back his Blues jumper this year with a scintillating start to the season.

Key player: Mitchell Pearce. Credit:AAP

In 14 games before Origin I an instrumental Pearce lit it up for the Roosters, chalking up 33 try involvements. In eight starts since NSW lost the interstate series decider at Suncorp Stadium he has eight, and that includes two major contributions to four-pointers in their qualifying final win over Brisbane two Fridays ago.

It is not just a tale of the numbers either. The Roosters' inconsistency with their kicking close to the opposition line - there have been shortcomings in getting the ball into the in-goal and collecting regular repeat sets - largely comes down to the halfback.