For the second time in four days, Sydney Roosters halfback Mitchell Pearce made sure NSW coach Ricky Stuart can’t ignore his claims for the Blues No.7 jersey.

Fresh from his dominant performance in City’s win over Country on Sunday, Pearce was again in fine touch, setting up two tries, scoring one himself and all but dragging his team to a famous Anzac Day victory over St George Illawarra.

But unlike on Sunday, when City managed to withstand a furious Country fightback, Pearce didn’t walk away with a win on Wednesday.

“It’s probably our best performance of the year and it’s pretty shattering to lose like that,” Pearce said after the match.

Rumoured to have fallen behind Brisbane halfback Peter Wallace in the race for the Blues halfback role as recently as a fortnight ago, Pearce certainly couldn’t be doing any more to push his claims.

“I was pretty happy with it. Backing up from the (City-Country) I wanted to have a good game,” Pearce said.

“I was pretty happy with the game (but) it doesn’t feel the same when you don’t win.”

The NSW incumbent also had a word for his critics who say the 23-year-old doesn’t deserve to retain his spot ahead of State of Origin one in Melbourne.

“Obviously it would be nice to be there, but I don’t really care what people are saying to be honest,” Pearce said.

“If they want to pick me, I’ll do my best.

“A couple of weeks ago before the Cowboys game, I was actually feeling pretty good.

“I had a couple of back-to-back good games and I’ve been pretty happy with my running game this year.”