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After a chequered history with Sydney City and the Bulldogs, he was forced to head to the bush last year, playing for Ourimbah in the New South Wales Country competition. Earned selection in the Country Firsts for a curtainraiser to the Anzac Test between the Kangaroos and the Kiwis at Stadium Australia. People noticed him then, most significantly the Warriors' management. And when the club's hooker resources reached rock bottom (Jason Death with a broken jaw and Syd Eru seriously injured), the Warriors went chasing. In no time, Mears was out of the country and back in the big smoke. He proved to be an extraordinary buy, coming straight into the side and playing the last 15 games of the season. As a dummy half runner he arguably had no equal in the NRL and must have gone close to making the Australian test squad for the Tri Series. But until he arrived at Ericsson, Mears had been given only sporadic chances. First graded by Sydney City in 1993, he had only 11 first grade games in four years with the Roosters. A move to Canterbury brought just 16 games over two seasons (including a damaging two-try display against the Warriors in 1997) before he was cut for 1999. Scored in his very first Warriors outing, the 32-30 win against Canberra, and then confronted his old Bulldogs team at Stadium Australia in the next round. No joy that day but he revelled in the Warriors' six-try 30-10 bashing of the Bulldogs at Ericsson just a few weeks later. It's difficult to understand why he's managed only 42 appearances in seven seasons of first grade league.
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