Even last season when he wasn't involved in the series, he was still one of the most talked about players during the Origin period. Now he has added himself to that list of critics, admitting he wished former Blues coach Craig Bellamy didn't throw him into the deep end when he wasn't ready for what the Origin arena would throw at him. "In hindsight I wish I never played that early when I was 19 to 22," Pearce told Fairfax Media. "I definitely wasn't ready. When I was 19, in my second year and got picked, it was fun and all the rest of it, but I was just walking around not really understanding what affect it was having on me. Looking back I wasn't too bad, but I wasn't ready at the time. As a halfback in Origin at 19, it was way too early. I probably developed some bad doubts from that period in those first few games. It's a daunting thing. "If you're not ready for Origin and you go in there, all the stuff that comes with it after, it can create some bad demons. In hindsight it would have been nice if I played a little bit later but in saying that it probably sped my development in club footy. There's the good and the bad but if I had my time again I wish I played a bit later. It contributed to my insecurity and created a few doubts."

Pearce burst on to the scene in 2007 at the Sydney Roosters as the 17-year-old son of Wayne Pearce. With the name came the pressure of living up to it, but perhaps the hardest part about it wasn't doing the name justice but what impact the name was having on his career. He admits he didn't embrace the name at the start of his career. Even before arriving on the back pages of newspapers he was running away from the family name, ashamed of the extra attention he received because of whose blood he shared. "I used to try and hide away from it," Pearce said about being the son of a rugby league legend.

"Because of the big figure he is, it was always a bit of a cloud over you all the time. You had to always try and live up to it. I took that on a lot. When I was real young, 15 or 16 and playing Aussie schoolboys, I remember saying to Mum whenever someone wrote a story, I'd tell her 'this is f****, this is not how I want it'. "Looking at it now I know it was a good story and fans wanted to read it, but for me back then, I used to get ashamed of that. I didn't think I deserved to be looking better than any other of the boys I was playing with. I took a lot of time trying to shy away from all that. I've always been proud of Dad but we have a better bond now probably because I don't resist him as much and hide away from it." Pearce also hid from the criticism that followed his every move in sky blue. In the lead-up to Origin battles he would consume himself in the hype and pressure surrounding him, and in the aftermath that very pressure would strangle him if he failed to live up to the expectation. He's since learnt to deal with criticism and block out the pressure, but he admitted his insecurities off the field often cost the Blues on it.

"I didn't handle that criticism well, which is probably a lack of belief and a lack of confidence in those situations," Pearce said. "I put that down to why I fell short in a few of those games as well. I'm more secure in myself now. After losing Origin games it's a bit brutal. I'd stay in the house for a couple of days, but if you win you walk around with your shirt off. But most of the time everyone is pretty positive. Sometimes you get 'you're shit'. There's criticism in papers and fans, but I haven't really had too many confrontations. I was insecure but I've learnt a lot since then. "I'm playing a game where there's so many people with opinions and so many people interested in what you're doing. That's a privilege. That's how I look at it now. It's an honour doing what we do, especially in Origin. There's always going to be criticism, but if you win the accolades are incredible. You get so many good things out of footy that so many other people not in this position don't get. You have to take the good with the bad." The bad came in the form of a girl in a yellow dress last year - a night out that ultimately cost him his NSW jersey and a place in history ending Queensland's eight-year Origin stranglehold. Pearce is back after 12 months in the wilderness but admits he feared the hiatus would be a lot longer after watching the Blues win the series in his absence.