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Newcastle coach Nathan Brown has backed Mitchell Pearce to lead the club to the NRL finals after finally lifting the State of Origin Shield for NSW.
Newcastle coach Nathan Brown says NSW's historic series victory was just as important for the Knights because his star playmaker Mitchell Pearce "got the monkey off his back".
Pearce completed his State of Origin redemption story on Wednesday after finally lifting the interstate Shield for the first time in eight attempts.
The 30-year-old copped criticism Queensland's decade of dominance and was often the Blues' scapegoat, but Brown believes his halfback will only get better now he's an Origin winner.
Pearce is one of four Origin players expected to back up against Canterbury on Friday, just two days after the series decider in Sydney.
"It was a great result for not only Pearcey but for us as club," Brown said.
"For Pearcey to be able to go through what he's been through and to go into Origin and in the high-pressure situation come up with the pass that created the (winning) try ... from our club's point of view that was probably just as important for us.
"Having Mitch come back after getting the monkey off his back and having people say more good things about him instead of bad can only help us as a club.
"To leave the Roosters and take a chance with us was a brave decision, as it was with Kalyn (Ponga). We were down the bottom of the table and couldn't get out of our own way.
"But the way it's worked out with Mitch getting back into Origin and Kalyn making his (Queensland) debut (in 2017) and then attracting some Origin players, it's worked out pretty well.
"The next step is to play some finals footy and I'm sure Mitch is keen to do that."
Brown was hopeful Pearce, David Klemmer, Daniel Saifiti and Tim Glasby would all play against the Bulldogs but gave no guarantees.
The coach said if his best players missed the clash they couldn't afford to have any passengers.
"You've got to have confidence in the guys that came in last week but when you lose those bumper players out of your starting pack then you can't afford to carry anyone," Brown said.
"If someone has an off day those (Origin) blokes might be able to still get us home but we certainly can't be carrying any people, we need 17 contributors."
