Newcastle playmaker Mitchell Pearce does not feel compelled to retell the cautionary tale intertwined with his rugby league career every time a player misbehaves or makes a bad decision.
Not publicly anyway.
But within the sanctuary of the dressing-room, the 29-year-old former Roosters and NSW halfback is imparting to his younger Newcastle teammates the knowledge gained and lessons learnt from mistakes he has made in social situations away from the game.
Those discussions have been held regularly this summer, considering the spate of off-field incidents involving NRL players, but Pearce believes better communication will lead to more accountability.
"I think since these things have started to come up, and everyone’s awareness has awakened since everyone’s had these scares and the bad look for the game lately, the NRL has done a really good job speaking to the clubs a fair bit more about it, and as a playing group we’re definitely talking about it," Pearce said at a media conference in Newcastle on Wednesday.
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"There’s no excuse for bad behaviour, but I think some of these things that have been in the past have been a bit of a scare for everyone and it’s not a good look for the game.
"There’s no doubt as a club, we’re certainly putting the pressure on each other, or keeping each other accountable to improve our behaviour from now on."
Pearce empathised with Bulldogs prop Dylan Napa, who has been shown in a series of sex tapes filmed several years ago.
Asked about speculation on social media linking him to the incidents involving his former Roosters teammate, Pearce said: "It’s hard not to hear the rumours, but if I listened to every rumour, I’d hate myself, I reckon."
"I’ve really felt for Dylan through the whole situation, but like I touched on before, from all these things that have arose, I think each club has taken accountability and everyone’s been working as hard as they can on their behaviour moving forward."
Asked if any good can come "from filming things on a night out", Pearce, smiling, said: “No.”
When the focus returned to the field, Pearce said he was looking forward to playing half a game with new halves partner Kalyn Ponga behind a new-look pack in a trial against the Dragons at Kogarah on Saturday.
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The Knights will wind up pre-season preparations against Cronulla at Maitland on March 2 before another meeting with the Sharks in their season-opener at McDonald Jones Stadium on March 15.
"I’ve said it a million times, Kalyn is a pretty easy player to play with and I’m really excited to develop a combination with him this year," Pearce said.
"It’s always good having a range of senior players around, and we’ve got a good crew there. There’s a lot of older, experienced forwards there now as well."
Preparing for his second year in Newcastle, the premiership-winning halfback has embraced the expectation swirling around the Knights in the build-up to the Telstra Premiership.
"We’re jumping out of our skin and we’re really looking forward to a big season. Like all teams, we’re going to take time to develop," he said.
"You’d like to think that you can hit the ground running from the first trial game but we’re confident we’ve done all the work, and worked as hard as any other team, we’d like to think.
"The expectation is a good thing – we’re embracing it and we’re looking forward to it. You’d rather be respected than no-one talking about you."
Pearce missed nine games in the middle of last season because of a torn pectoral muscle, knocking the stuffing out of Newcastle’s finals hopes, but he feels fighting fit heading into his 13th season in the NRL.
"My health’s good, I feel fit, we’ve trained really well, and as I’ve said, it’s probably one of the biggest pre-seasons I’ve had in a long time," he said.
