I'll be ready for decider, says Roosters playmaker Mitchell Pearce Mitchell Pearce at the Sydney Roosters recovery session at Bondi Beach. Picture Gregg Porteous Source: TheAustralian MITCHELL Pearce was quarantined from his teammates yesterday with flu-like symptoms but the Sydney Roosters playmaker quickly moved to dispel any concerns over his fitness, declaring himself a certain starter in Sunday night's grand final against Manly. Pearce, who produced one of the finest performances of his career in the Roosters' preliminary final win over Newcastle, turned up at club headquarters yesterday morning complaining of body aches and a sore throat. The NSW No 7 was immediately sent home as officials looked to ensure he didn't infect any of his teammates in the lead-up to the premiership decider against the Sea Eagles. "I just feel a bit funny, it just beat me down," Pearce told The Australian. I don't know what it is. It's like when your body aches and you start feeling a bit flat, with a bit of a sore throat and aches. I will be sweet in a couple of days. It's all good. I will be sweet on Wednesday. Pearce's illness comes at a worrying time, although the upside is he has enough time to recover. His importance to the Roosters was rammed home during the club's win over the Knights, a display coach Trent Robinson suggested may have been Pearce's best since 2010. The other positive is the Roosters should be well versed in handling the situation - backrower Sonny Bill Williams suffered food poisoning, which threatened his place in the preliminary final. Williams eventually took his place, producing another outstanding 60-minute performance as the Roosters surged into the grand final. Officials are sweating on Pearce to return to training tomorrow. He could yet make an appearance at the Dally M awards tonight, where he is among a handful of players from the Roosters to receive an invitation. Robinson has also been invited and is expected to pick up coach of the year honours after guiding the Roosters to the minor premiership in his first season in charge. The major gong is tipped to be a race between Williams, Melbourne halfback Cooper Cronk, North Queensland five-eighth Johnathan Thurston and the man Pearce will oppose in Sunday night's game, Daly Cherry-Evans. That, of course, is contingent on Pearce taking his place. His teammates certainly expect him to play along with Boyd Cordner, the NSW backrower who has missed more than a month with an ankle problem. If Pearce is unable to recover, utility Daniel Mortimer said he was ready to step into the breach. Mortimer covered for Pearce during the State of Origin series. "I have trained a lot in the halves in the pre-season," said Mortimer. I have been keeping my skills up through the season. If for any reason he didn't play, I would be ready to step up. But it was just a little bit of a blocked nose. He might have a little fever but it's lucky we have six days to get over it. He won't really come close to the team until he has got that 100 per cent right. I played this year at halfback and I know all the structures. And obviously I have played some big games in the halves before so I would be ready to slip straight in. The biggest of those was the 2009 grand final when Mortimer played five-eighth in Parramatta's loss to the Melbourne Storm. "It was a bit of a whirlwind," Mortimer said. It just happened so quick. I guess we didn't expect to be there - we were sitting in 13th when I made my debut and then we won eight in a row to make the finals, then knocked off a team week by week. It's been a very different feel. Polar opposites really. We have kind of known we will be around September footy for a little while. We worked really hard, especially with a new coach and new structures. Obviously the first year under Trent Robinson, he has done a great job to bond the boys. He probably didn't expect it to happen this quick but we're here and we have to give it a crack.