Surprising statistics show why Andrew Johns is so confident Mitchell Pearce is poised to reverse his poor State of Origin record and become a Blues trump card.
Plenty of doubters have pointed to halfback Pearce's ugly Origin tally of 11 losses from 15 matches for NSW - and 0-6 record in series - to rail against the recall he has earned for Origin I next week.
Few realise that Johns had a similar record at the same age as 28-year-old Pearce, before exploding thereafter to be considered one of the Blues' greatest players.
Before his 28th birthday, Johns had played nine games for NSW as a half, winning just two.
Like Pearce he was also yet to win a series as a playmaker for the Blues, with his first three successes coming as a hooker, or off the bench.
However Johns kicked on in style after that, winning two of his last three series and drawing the other, all while guiding the Blues from the halves.
Johns, who mentors Pearce at the Sydney Roosters, is sure Pearce is about to come into his own as a playmaker on the unforgiving Origin stage following some career-best club form.
"For Mitchell, it's an empty canvas now," said Johns.
"He's going to build his legacy in the next three, four, five years...You'll see a different performance from Mitchell this Origin."
Such are the demands on playmakers, Johns believes they need time to hit their peak and Pearce is just getting there.
"I have no doubt it's going to go up and up," Johns said.
"He just looks a lot calmer. He's at that stage of his career as a halfback, around that 26-27, that's when you're playing your best footy."
Returning after being axed for last year's series following his well-publicised off-field issues and treatment, Pearce, for his part, is not interested in making such bold predictions.
"I can't get caught up with so many different things with clean slates and records and things like that," Pearce said on Tuesday.
"All I can worry about is this week and being the best player I can be today and tomorrow, and leading into the game."
However he insists he is in a better mindset to handle State of Origin than at any point in his career.
"You're always evolving - if you're not you're going backwards," he said.
"I'd like to think I've grown since 2015 and 2016 and even yesterday hopefully.
"I'm in a very good frame of mind to be doing my best."
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