Sydney Roosters coach Trent Robinson claims Mitchell Pearce has turned a corner in his life, and expects to finally see the best of him in the NRL.
A year ago Pearce had just arrived home from a stint in a Thai rehab clinic, only to be handed an eight-week NRL suspension for bringing the game into disrepute after his infamous drunken Australia Day antics.
Twelve months on and Pearce will kick off the Roosters' premiership charge against Gold Coast on Saturday night - with many pundits backing him to claim his maiden Dally M Medal.
"He's improved a lot over the last year as a person," Robinson said.
"That's a big part of what he needed to do and the way the club tried to help him with that.
"We've seen some real benefits with that off the field and now it's time to see some benefits on the field."
Pearce's turnaround was best highlighted by the contrasting headlines he has attracted this off-season.
Despite last year's dramas, the 15-game NSW State of Origin player was re-signed last month for a further two years until the end of 2019 without much hesitation.
"You get the players that know they're from one club and they'll stay at one club, and they usually get done within a week," Robinson said.
"With players like Mitchell he's been here since he was 16 and he owes the club and we owe him.
"I think it's being comfortable, knowing that this is your home and the contract will respect that in what we offer him."
After struggling with injury on his return from suspension last season, Pearce finally found form in the closing rounds to claims wins in three of his last five games.
With the Roosters back to full-strength and with a far quieter off-season, the Tri-colours are tipped to return back to the top four after finishing second-last in 2016.
However much of that will hinge on Pearce's playmaking combination with Luke Keary, who is himself escaping a drama-filled final year at South Sydney.
The pair did not trial together in any of the Roosters' pre-season matches, but Robinson is hoping that won't hurt them come Saturday night.
'We're hoping the amount of training that we've done will help that," Robinson said.
"We would've liked for them to trial together, they haven't trialled together, they've trained together but that's not playing."
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