He also spoke last year to Ellis, who he hopes to emulate after describing him as a “tough, old-school Pommy”.
Like Ellis, Pearce-Paul is a towering back-rower, who, after winning a Super League title in 2023, served his NRL apprenticeship at Newcastle, making 44 appearances, which was enough to earn him selection in the England team for the recent Ashes series.
While Australia won 3-0, Pearce-Paul was one of the few members of the home team to hold his own, averaging 84 attacking metres and 33 tackles a game in the three Tests.
Kai Pearce-Paul arrives at Wests Tigers on the back of a strong Ashes series for England.Credit: Getty Images
The series result was a reality check, but at least now England’s players know the standard they will need to reach to have any hope at this year’s World Cup.
“It was an eye-opener,” Pearce-Paul said of the Ashes. “You just can’t give the Aussies a chance.
“It’s the best players in the world and the best league in the world, and it can be an even battle, and you mess up one little thing and you’ve got players like Nathan Cleary and [Cameron] Munster, they’ll just capitalise on it and finish those tries off.
“I think that struck us by surprise, especially in that first game with [Reece] Walsh. We gave him an inch and he just took a mile.”
International duties completed, Pearce-Paul has since been settling in at the Tigers, after signing a three-year deal midway through last season.
He insists he left the Knights on good terms – “there’s no hard feelings there at all” – but was immediately attracted by the sales pitch from Tigers coach Benji Marshall.
“Benji came in and showed real interest,” he said. “He made it very clear what he wanted me to bring for this team, and for me, it was a no-brainer.
“I think it was one chat on the phone and then one chat in person, and then I was sold.”
No sooner had the 24-year-old started training with the Tigers than they became embroiled in a boardroom drama, culminating in the departure of chief executive Shane Richardson.
But despite critics labelling the club a “basket case”, Pearce-Paul said the controversy had no impact on the players and coaching staff.
“We just sort of blocked out that noise,” he said.
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“I guess it was a bit of an elephant in the room. You know, everyone’s on social media, and you’re seeing it everywhere, but we just all decided let’s just not let it bother us. Let’s just carry on focusing on us.
“At the end of the day, whatever happens up there, it doesn’t change how we train or change our goal and how we want to play this year.”
The goal, after finishing 13th last season, is to qualify for the finals for the first time since 2011. After watching the Tigers play what he described as “some champagne rugby” in 2025, Pearce-Paul believes the play-offs are a realistic ambition.
“Not just the top eight, we want to be even higher than that,” he said. “So we’ve set high standards for ourselves this year, and we want to be the best team we can.”