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http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/n...ender-his-jersey/story-e6frfgbo-1226060259499Parramatta Eels five-eighth Daniel Mortimer refuses to surrender his jersey
- James Hooper
Three's a crowd: Daniel Mortimer will have a fight on his hands against new recruits Chris Sandow and Ben Roberts for his halves position next year. Picture: Mark Evans. Source: The Daily Telegraph
PARRAMATTA playmaker Daniel Mortimer has refused to relinquish the No 6 jersey despite the club's $700,000 spending spree to lure Chris Sandow and Ben Roberts for next season.
In a little over 18 months, Mortimer has gone from being at the centre of a bidding war between Parramatta and Canterbury to fighting to save his spot at the Eels.
Signed until the end of next season, the Eels have issued Mortimer a blunt message by recruiting Roberts out of the Bulldogs' NSW Cup side.
Mortimer gets his first opportunity to prove the Eels wrong against the Sharks outfit at Parramatta Stadium tomorrow night.
"The club's been put in a situation where we don't have great depth in the halves and with Parramatta not performing as well as we want, they've had to look at other options," Mortimer said.
"It would be great to know that you were safe in a position, but that's not the case and it's just more reason to work hard."
Mortimer has had to adjust to being targeted in defence because of his diminutive stature.
The possibility of Mortimer moving to hooker was raised after the Roberts announcement, but Eels coach Stephen Kearney has scotched the notion.
"No. I'm not sure where that came from but it didn't come from anywhere in the coaching department," Kearney said.
While Mortimer will compete for the No 6 jersey, the Eels intend to cut halfback Jeff Robson.
That would be from those Board Members who talk to the press too much and stick their noses in other peoples business. Is there another club where this happens ? Yeah Maybe with Rusty and Tinkler. Perhaps the Board should check their bank accounts because I'm pretty sure that they haven't bought the team with their own cash. :? :x
