Steve Mortimer
Playing information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Height | 5 ft 8 in (173 cm) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 12 st 4 lb (78 kg) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Halfback | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Stephen Charles Mortimer
Background
Mortimer was born in the
Mortimer's junior club was the Kooringal Magpies.
Playing career
 | This section of a poorly sourced must be removed immediately from the article and its talk page, especially if potentially libelous. )Find sources: "Steve Mortimer" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (February 2023) |
Spotted by
His performances in the 1980 and 1985 victories were vintage Mortimer. In the 1980 decider, he saved three certain Eastern Suburbs tries through superb cover tackles (a great Mortimer trademark). In the 1985 Grand Final it was Mortimer's captaincy and direction that controlled Canterbury field position and possession as they buried St George into submission following a try to brother
During Mortimer's final five seasons at Canterbury-Bankstown he formed a great halves combination with the master of support play in Terry Lamb. During their five years together in the blue and white, the Bulldogs made four Grand Finals and won three of them. Lamb was a non-playing reserve in the 1985 Grand Final win over St George after being ruled out due to injury, and Mortimer missed 68 minutes of the 1988 Grand Final win over Balmain in the first Grand Final played at the Sydney Football Stadium (Turvey had broken his arm during the Bulldogs Round 21 match against St George at Belmore, but recovered sufficiently to take his place in Phil Gould's side on GF day).
Lamb would later captain the Bulldogs between 1990 and 1995 and usher in a new breed of Bulldogs that weren't around in the Mortimer era. Mortimer received an offer to switch clubs in
Surprisingly, despite their success when playing together at Canterbury, Mortimer and Lamb only ever partnered each other once in the halves for
Despite troubles at Canterbury during his latter years, including a well publicised feud with Warren Ryan who coached the team from 1984 to 1987, Mortimer was a one-club man and retired playing 272 first grade games, which at the time was the most for one NSWRL club. It was also around this time that when appearing before the NSWRL Judiciary, the chairman of the judiciary, Sydney lawyer Jim Comans who was leading the campaign to stamp out violence in the game, told Mortimer that if he appeared before him again "Rugby league will be just a memory for you".'.
Mortimer's representative career faced challenges from other great halfbacks of his era including
Despite the presence of great halfbacks, Mortimer played 16 matches for
Mortimer played 8 Test matches for Australia between 1981 and 1984 where he scored two tries in his Test debut against
Coaching career
| This section of a biography of a living person does not include any references or sources. (February 2023) |
Mortimer played under four coaches during his 13 seasons at Canterbury. His enterprising and brilliant style of football was encouraged and enhanced under the coaching of
Mortimer's final year at
Administration
| This section of a biography of a living person does not include any references or sources. (April 2010) |
The Bulldogs salary cap crisis in 2002 saw Mortimer return to
Mortimer will be remembered as one of the all-time great halfbacks, a player who brought the passion into the State of Origin for New South Wales, a great captain for his state and country and a great ambassador for the sport of rugby league on and off the field.
Outside football
In 1988, Mortimer was awarded the
Mortimer, after his playing days, set up a very successful "Shuffleboard" business, which focused on a game used mostly by 'retirement homes'. He has made several media appearances and was a member of Channel Seven's Sports World programme in the early 1990s and Fox Sports NRL coverage. From 2005, he was regularly seen on Sky News as their rugby league expert.
On 24 October 2000, Mortimer was recipient of the Australian Sports Medal.[8]
In February 2008, Mortimer was named in the list of Australia's
Personal life
Mortimer and his wife Karen Mortimer have three children; son Matthew Mortimer, son Andrew Mortimer, and daughter Erin Mortimer.[11]
Health
In 2021, Mortimer was diagnosed with
See also
References
- ^ RLP
- ^ Yesterday's Hero
- ^ a b "Mr Stephen Charles Mortimer". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. Retrieved 10 April 2022 – via Australian Government.
- ^ a b "Steve Mortimer". Museum of the Riverina. Retrieved 10 April 2022.
- ^ "Steve MORTIMER – SPORTING HALL OF FAME – Rugby League".
- ^ "Steve Mortimer". gssportsmanagement.com.au. GS Sports Management. Archived from the original on 26 January 2014. Retrieved 28 December 2013.
- ISBN 9780702233838.
- ^ It's an Honour – Australia Celebrating Australians
- ^ Peter Cassidy (23 February 2008). "Controversy reigns as NRL releases top 100 players". Macquarie National News. Archived from the original on 25 February 2008. Retrieved 23 February 2008.
- ARL. 23 February 2008. Archived from the originalon 26 February 2008. Retrieved 23 February 2008.
- ^ "The sum of us: Rugby league hero Steve Mortimer proud of his son's gay union". 26 March 2016.
- ^ a b c "Steve 'Turvey' Mortimer facing a battle to live with dignity". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 11 February 2022.
