Career
An athletic lock forward for the Balmain Tigers, he was affectionately known as "Junior". Pearce represented New South Wales in the State of Origin Series as well as the Australian national rugby league team Pearce was captain of the Balmain Tigers rugby league club from 1982–1990.
A local junior from the Balmain Police Boys club, he made his debut in 1980 and was quickly marked as a future star.
Pearce"s son, Mitchell was a half-back for the Sydney Roosters. Pearce"s captaincy proved critical in elevating Balmain from also-rans to a force of the 1980s, in concert with Steve Roach, Benny Elias and later Paul Sironen.
Along with fullback Garry Jack, they drove Balmain to the semi-finals in 1983 and every year from 1985 to Pearce"s retirement. In 1986 Pearce captained the New South Wales Blues to their first ever State of Origin clean-sweep, but in the following two years there was to be a rapid decline, with Queensland easily winning every match in 1988.
In 1988 he was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia "for service to rugby league".
Pearce also made an appearance the 1988 Australian television movie The First Kangaroos, which depicted the 1908-1909 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain. Pearce captained the Balmain Tigers to two successive grand finals in 1988 and 1989, both of which they lost. In 1990, Pearce could not play a full match until the seventeenth round, but for the rest of the season he was at his best, seen clearly in the play-off for fifth with Newcastle, when he scored a crucial try from a bomb and carted the ball forward as fearlessly as ever.
The following week, though, proved to be his last match as Balmain lost 0–16, sparking a major decline in the club"s fortunes after Pearce"s retirement.
After 10 years as a rugby league commentator for Fox Sports, Pearce was appointed as one of the nine inaugural commissioners of the Australian Rugby League Commission at its reconstitution in February 2012. A motivational speaker, he continues to run his leadership and team performance consultancy Wayne Pearce Advantage.
He also fronts the rock cover band Wayne Pearce and the Big Hitters.
