Dropped, demoted and an inundation of playmakers, but Mortimer assured he's in no danger
Chris Barrett
May 26, 2011
DANIEL MORTIMER has been assured by Parramatta that his place at the club is in no danger despite suggestions that his future was clouded after being rested by coach Steve Kearney and then sent to reserve grade for this weekend.
Mortimer was pulled from the Eels side prior to their 40-6 defeat of Cronulla on Monday night and the 21-year-old will feature in the NSW Cup instead of taking on the Knights in Newcastle on Saturday.
However, despite suggestions he was unwanted by Parramatta, Mortimer was guaranteed of his place in their plans in a meeting between his manager, Steve Gillis, and Eels officials last Friday. ''I don't understand what all the fuss is about,'' Gillis said. ''He's a 21-year-old kid who has played 49 first-grade games and the coach was giving him a rest.''
Kearney told the Herald yesterday Mortimer, whose contract runs until the end of 2013 :shock:, was going nowhere despite the acquisitions of Chris Sandow from Souths and Ben Roberts from Canterbury in the past month.
''He's got a contract with us so we're committed to it,'' Kearney said. ''He's a young half, it's always a difficult position
He's been under a fair bit of pressure in the last month and [Monday] was a good chance for him to have a break. He had made 43 tackles
the week before.''
Asked about Mortimer's demotion the coach said: ''It was hard to leave the guys out from Monday night.
''[Mortimer] is a hard worker, he's a good young lad. That's the beauty of this competition - it's week to week. If I thought he was the best option for us this week, we would have went that way. From week to week it changes.''
Meanwhile, Eels halfback Jeff Robson is likely to decide on his future by the end of this week. Robson has had a new contract offer from the Eels before him for two months, in which time Parramatta have complicated matters by signing Sandow and Roberts to add to their stockpile of playmakers for next year.
His manager, Gavin Orr, said his client had offers from elsewhere as well and may make a final call on his future in the ''next 24 to 48 hours''.
''[Parramatta] have got an offer out to us. We're looking at that [but] we haven't let them know,'' Orr said. ''He's just thinking about that stuff now.''
Kearney's purchase of Sandow, on a salary in the range of $450,000 a season, and former Kiwi international Roberts would appear to minimise the prospect of both Mortimer and Robson remaining on his first-grade roster. The Eels also have Tom Humble on their books as a back-up half and Casey McGuire showed on Monday night he was another option.
