Scutterbucketz I met Pearce in Lola Lo's (still not quite sure what i was doing in there) last November and had a chat with him. He said then that he was making a stand on behalf of all the academy boys as he felt that Nicky Hammond didn't treat them with the same amount of respect as players who are bought in and this was reflected in the contracts and wages offered to them. It seemed he was on a bit of a crusade.
As he is one of our best players I don't see why he shouldn't be offered parity With other players in the team.
Yeh I heard the same thing, problem is that the reason that academy boys don't get paid much is that they haven't got the experience to warrant it yet. And it's not as if they are a cut above the players being brought in. They are definitely less experienced, and it's questionable if they are better than them.
Alex Pearce has played 100 fewer games than Mariappa. That's why he can't command the same sort of wage whilst being as good as him. Experience counts as much as ability.