Why I stayed with Parramatta Eels, by Daniel Mortimer
* By Daniel Mortimer
* From: The Daily Telegraph
* March 09, 2010 12:00AM
AS MY brother Tim and I slowly crawled through traffic after a truck tipped over on our way back from Wagga Wagga on Sunday, I had seven hours of quality thinking time.
Which club will I spend 2011 and 2012 with? The previous afternoon I'd been at the Uranquinty Hotel, an out-of-town pub near Wagga that Uncle Louie (Chris Mortimer) has part ownership in.
After knocking back my first beer, we decided to have a punt. At that instant I spotted a filly named Horse Win Win.
The name also got me thinking. I've got two of Sydney's great NRL clubs chasing me and I had to choose one. A win/win situation.
Unfortunately, the name did not reflect the horse - it ran second last.
The decision
So why have I stayed with Parramatta? After a year of such success, excitement and delight, I found myself thinking "why not!"
With the flair of Jarryd Hayne, the consistency of Luke Burt, the leadership of Nathan Cayless and mind-set of Nathan Hindmarsh, I'd be silly to walk out of such a club at a time like this.
A club with this much talent, coaching staff like Daniel Anderson, Hayden Knowles, supporters like we have, spells one thing: Premiership.
It's every player's dream to one day hold up that trophy in October and I feel my best opportunity to accomplish that is at Parramatta.
It wouldn't be fair if I didn't acknowledge Paul Osborne and Todd Greenberg who have dealt with my contract negotiations with no pressure or deadlines.
It definitely made it easier on a young kid making the biggest decision of his life. The Bulldogs and Ossie were so professional.
The Dogs' offer
Canterbury met with me a few weeks earlier and had put together a 15-page power point presentation which they showed me.
We got together at the Bulldogs Leagues Club boardroom. There was Kevin Moore, Todd Greenberg and my manager Steve Gillis. John Ballesty, who runs the hugely successful leagues club, also popped in to say hello which was nice.
The presentation took about one hour and really opened my eyes. Todd did most of the presentation and Kev often chimed in with much of the football-related matter. They spoke about what they could do for my footy and for my lifestyle away from the game. They talked about my image in the corporate sector, the community sector, my relationship with the media and how they could assist me.
Importantly, they spoke about the history of the club and its great heritage as well as discussing my thoughts on life after football.
They didn't need to tell me how competitive they would be but did anyway. Clearly they have an awesome roster.
I'd be surprised if they were not successful for many years to come.
The phone call
Among all the excitement and attention, comes the downside.
Ringing up Kevin Moore at 9.35pm on Sunday night was one of the hardest things I have had to do.
His phone went to message bank and I froze. It was my intention to speak to him in person and I had rung him to let him know I had made my decision to stay at Parramatta for another two seasons.
It was important to me to let the Bulldogs know of my decision first.
After all, they had shown great interest in me and I didn't want them hearing second hand that I wasn't coming.
"Kev, it's Daniel Mortimer," I said thinking to myself I should be talking to him one on one.
"I just wanted to let you know that after much thought, I've chosen to stay on with Parra. The ride of being with the boys and making the grand final last season was a wonderful experience. The club has looked after me well and I feel it would be just too hard to leave. Thanks for everything mate, talk soon."
Thankfully, about 10 minutes later, my phone rang and it was Kevvie.
I told him again of my decision and he said he was happy for me. It's fair to say my head was spinning when we wrapped up the day. But the thing I liked about it the best was that there was no pressure or deadlines.
They simply asked me to seriously consider becoming a Bulldog because they believed in the club and all that it now stood for.
There was no precise moment when I thought, yes! That's my verdict. My decision was made up over the last four years, since Parramatta snatched me away from the mighty Orange CYMS.
Only this weekend I asked myself, can I really leave this club? One line Kevin Moore said to me that pretty much summed up my decision in a nutshell and put my mind at ease: "I applaud your loyalty, that's one thing this game needs more of."
Parramatta were also terrific in that regard. At no stage was there any pressure put on me. I'm so happy to be staying.
