OVERLOOKED in the post mortem of Sunday's loss to the Rabbitohs was the man in the corner, Mitchell Pearce.
Pearce walked into the Roosters' dressing room and, as his teammates slumped with the effort of their exertion, he revealed the other cost of his Australia Day party. 
Pearce carried the weight of the loss, and rightly so.
He wears blame for the Roosters' performance and the realisation that, suddenly, this Roosters outfit is vastly different from previous editions. At a time when every man is needed he has ruled himself out through his own actions.
"Oh, come on," the cynics sneer. "No player is good enough to turn around a 32-point deficit all alone and if he is then surely his name is -Johnathan Thurston and not Mitchell Pearce." The Roosters were beaten in every facet they care to measure and several others they can't. Souths had loads more enthusiasm, for instance, and hit much harder in defence.
If Pearce was there it could have been different, though.
There was a moment early when Jackson Hastings, filling in for Pearce, rolled the ball in-goal and it went dead. The Rabbitohs took the tap and rolled upfield, scored and seemingly had the ball for the next 10 -minutes.
By the time the Roosters drew breath, it was 26-0.
Pearce has one of the longest kicks in the game and would have at least given the ball back to the Rabbitohs in poor ball territory.
That right there, better field position, might have changed events significantly.
Instead, the Rabbitohs came at them early with what they call good ball and dominated until the contest was gone.
This is the unacknowledged cost when players go rogue.
For all the conversation about the extent of what Pearce did, about his punishment and extent of remorse, the cost to his teammates is dear.
At a time when the club was trying to find a second playmaker following the departure of James Maloney, he left them without an established playmaker at all.
At a time when senior players Jared Waerea-Hargreaves and Boyd Cordner were sidelined with injury, he left them with one less.
At a time when the Roosters find themselves in a different place than in previous seasons, with plenty of young players in need of plenty of coaching, he left his team without the calm voice to lead.
Can anyone imagine Thurston doing this to his teammates? Or Cameron Smith? For reasons not known, this hard conversation is rarely held among teammates.
His Roosters teammates are disappointed he has left them a quality player short but have said nothing.
It is slightly strange given there is always such an emphasis on culture at every club, and honesty and accountability are the cornerstone of any good culture.   Maybe they assume he just knows.
Pearce spoke to coach Trent Robinson after the game and called him again yesterday. He clearly understands how his absence has affected the team.
Yet Robinson won't use his suspension as an excuse.
"If you make excuses to relieve pressure in the moment," he says, "you won't get what you want long term."And he knows the job ahead, long term. There is some hard coaching to be done at the Roosters this season and the pressure is on Robinson to produce. Pearce's absence just complicates the job.