Smith praises Pearce performance

Mitchell Pearce's performance in the Roosters' victory over St George was top draw, according to coach Brian Smith.

The 23-year-old half back weighed in with a hat-trick of tries and put on a vigorous defensive display in the match at Allianz Stadium on Friday.

Mitchell was forced to front the media recently in an effort to play rumours of a rift between him and coach Smith and confront critics who attacked his 'party boy' image.

“He was right on the ball all night tonight, I thought,” Smith told the Roosters' official website. 

“He did it so well tonight, that was just a really leading performance. He led us in attack, but he defended particularly well on Ben Creagh.”

The Roosters were by far the most creative team but they almost let the Dragons back into the game during a wobbly ten minute period after half time.

“We didn’t get everything right tonight but we certainly got enough,” added Smith.

“I thought St George-Illawarra put some good plays on us and they certainly moved the ball about a lot tonight, tested our edges, so all up it was really pleasing performance, I thought our guys really deserved their victory tonight.”

The Roosters currently occupy 14th place in the NRL ladder and are unlikely to be in with a chance of making the final eight.