He is the son of the ARL commissioner, former Balmain Tigers legend, New South Wales and Australian international Wayne Pearce.

[11] Later into the season, Pearce was ruled out for 6 weeks to due a back injury[citation needed] and later in Round 23 onwards where he played off the interchange bench in last 3 matches.

In June 2012, Pearce was rumoured to leave the Roosters to join the Wests Tigers because a tough relationship with the Brian Smith over him being printed on the papers due to his party boy antics.

[21] In Round 23 against the Wests Tigers, Pearce played his 150th NRL career match and scored 2 tries in the 56–14 win at Sydney Football Stadium.

[22][23] Pearce would help the Roosters to win the Minor Premiership and later made it into the 2013 NRL Grand Final where they played against the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles.

In May 2014, Pearce was given an infringement notice by police after he refused to leave a nightclub in Kings Cross after a female clubber complained about his actions.

[31][32] Pearce was appointed co-captain of the Roosters and his side went on to win the Minor Premiership to bowed out in the Preliminary Final against the Brisbane Broncos when they were defeated 31–12 at Suncorp Stadium.

[35] Pearce later made his return for the Roosters in Round 8 against the Newcastle Knights, scoring a try in the 38–0 win at Sydney Football Stadium.

In the Round 8 of the 2017 NRL season during the Anzac Day match against the St George Illawarra Dragons, Pearce kicked a game winning field goal in the 83rd minute during Golden Point to give the Roosters a 13–12 victory and won the ANZAC Man of the Match Medal at Sydney Football Stadium.

[39] In Round 16 against the Melbourne Storm, Pearce would again kick a match winning field goal in Golden Point to give the Roosters a 25–24 victory at Adelaide Oval.

[41][42] On 27 September 2017, Pearce was the winner of the Peter Frilingos Headline Moment of the Year of his match winning performance in the Roosters ANZAC Day clash against the St George Illawarra Dragons.

4 weeks later in the round 7 clash he tore his pectoral muscle in the Knights' 22–20 win against the Wests Tigers at Scully Park.

[52] In round 24, Pearce kicked a field goal for Newcastle in the final minute of play which won the game for the club 15–14 over the Gold Coast.

[53] On 27 October, Pearce requested a release from the final year of his Newcastle contract to join Super League side Catalans Dragons in 2022.

[55] In round 1 of the 2022 Super League season, Pearce made his club debut for Catalans Dragons where they lost 28–8 against St Helens R.F.C.

[60] On 2 July 2008, Pearce was selected to make his State of Origin debut for New South Wales, replacing the injured Peter Wallace in the Game 3 series decider match at ANZ Stadium.

[82] In December 2005, Pearce, who was then 16 years old, was at a charity golf function in the Sunshine Coast when was attacked by a drunken Craig Gower, the Penrith Panthers captain.

The police issued an infringement notice to Pearce for failing to leave the club when asked and banned him from the Kings Cross area for 48 hours.

[84] On 27 January 2016, a video was aired showing an intoxicated Pearce forcing an unwanted kiss on a woman and, when rejected, simulating sex with her dog, after having urinated on himself and her couch.

[85] Within hours the Sydney Roosters released a short statement stating that they had advised the NRL's Integrity Unit of the incident and would conduct an internal investigation.

[86] Two days after the video was first aired, an emotional Pearce read a statement to the media apologising for his actions and acknowledging that he has a problem with alcohol.

[89] Shortly afterwards, Pearce overcame the impasse in negotiations between the Roosters and the NRL over the severity of his punishment by phoning his club and saying that he "deserved to be sidelined for a lengthy period".

[90] In December 2020, Pearce's wedding was reportedly called off due to him sending text messages of a sexual nature to a female Newcastle staff member.