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Opinion
When Steve Mortimer suffers a paper cut, I suspect blue and white blood streams from the wound.
The man affectionately known as ‘Turvey’ played 272 matches across 13 seasons for one of Australian rugby league’s most famous and successful clubs. Mortimer is unquestionably the greatest halfback and captain to have ever represented Canterbury-Bankstown.
Minor premierships, premierships and representative footy feature significantly in his rugby league CV, with a State of Origin triumph as captain in 1985 perhaps his most famous and noteworthy achievement in the game.
The last time I was up close and personal to Mortimer was in a corporate box at Stadium Australia, in late July of the 2019 season. As has been the repetitive story for Canterbury in recent years, it was another frustrating day, this time against the Roosters.
Mortimer sat alone at the front of the box, his body lurching forward and tense. A Big League magazine was rolled up in his right hand and he rode every bump, hit, dropped ball and half chance like the passionate Canterbury man that he is.
With the Bulldogs struggling to score enough points to place serious pressure on an equally unconvincing Roosters team, Mortimer grew more and more frustrated the deeper the game drifted into the second half.
At one point he exclaimed, “Where is the support? How hard is it to support the ball carrier?”
The comment was laced with all the frustration of the recent troubles that have had the club close to its knees. Yet Mortimer was far from a disgruntled fan shouting out ill-informed advice to professional players who actually know far more about the game than those offering the advice believe.
In this case, Mortimer was right. Spot on, in fact. As he was throughout the match with all of his comments.
Fellow Bulldogs great Terry Lamb was also present that day and I’d bumped into him in the corridor just prior to kick off. His passion for the blue and white runs as deep as his former halves partner, yet he watches the game in a far different way.
(Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
Lamb is more of a ‘roll with the punches’ type of guy and cheers up a room instantly with his cheeky smile and clever wit. No matter how bad the Bulldogs might be travelling, he will view the game from something of a philosophical view, rarely displaying excessive emotion and frustration.
Mortimer is cut from a different cloth and his passionate and obsessive support for the only professional club for whom he has played remains as strong and committed as ever.
Last Tuesday’s announcement that Mortimer had been officially diagnosed with dementia sometime in March this year rocked the foundations of Canterbury-Bankstown.
Quite simply, Steve Mortimer means more to the fans of the club than any other player.
He was there as the young star at the dawn of the new era of Canterbury: the family club entertainers who frightened the life out of the competition in 1979 before claiming the title the following year and three others throughout the 1980s.
He was simply an inspiration. He was blessed with a turn of foot owned by few halves, an insane footy instinct that saw him do the impossible and produce moments of which others would dare not dream and undoubted leadership qualities. Mortimer was one of the most talented players of his era.
As an asthmatic, his jack-in-the-box style of play was somewhat necessary, yet compared to the challenge he now faces as the scary reality of dementia sets in, it was merely an obstacle to which he found an answer.
Mortimer has struggled for some time, with many in his close circle realising that all was not right with the 64-year-old. No doubt he knew it as well and with the rugby league world in bitter debate around the NRL’s recent crackdown on contact to the head, he has potentially selected the most apt and telling moment to announce his struggles to the public.
(Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)
Mortimer can recall three significant moments where he was seriously compromised by contact to the head. He is also well aware that the game has indeed changed.
However, he is also in full support of the new interpretations being applied by the officials and the zero tolerance approach being taken.
While veteran league writer Phil Rothfield has rather idiotically suggested that the upcoming State of Origin series could become unwatchable thanks to the crackdown, Mortimer’s announcement reminds us all as to why it is occurring.
No game is worth its salt if it is in any way responsible for a man as young as 64 having his roles as a father, grandfather, uncle or partner diminished. That is to be the path ahead for Steve Mortimer.
Sadly, it is too late for him and many others. Yet there is still hope for the modern player that they may finish their careers with extremely low risk when it comes to their future health situations.
Each and every time we think about the arguments on both sides, we should remind ourselves of Mortimer, what he stands for as a Bulldog and just how great he was.