Injury wait hangs over Mortimer
GLENN JACKSON
September 19, 2009 - 12:30AM
THE NRL has been granted a dream preliminary final next Friday night, although it may lose one of the most intriguing subplots in Parramatta's gifted five-eighth Daniel Mortimer, who is in doubt to face his father's former club following a tackle Eels coach Daniel Anderson described as a ''missile''.
Mortimer's prospects of playing against the Bulldogs at ANZ Stadium will rest with an MRI scan today on a hip cork and many ice baths and physiotherapy sessions. Mortimer lasted just 12 minutes of the Eels' 27-2 disposal of the Titans after being hit slightly late in a tackle by Gold Coast replacement forward Sam Tagataese.
''It's very tender,'' Mortimer said. ''I've been in better places. I'll get an MRI and a lot of physio work and see how she pulls up. I'll do everything I can to get out there. If I'm not too much of a liability to the team I'll be out there.''
Mortimer attempted to take the field again with the help of pain-killing injections, but spent much of the rest of the game in an ice bath and was for a period comforted by his father Peter, the former Bulldog.
''I got a few needles in it when I came off
and had a little test run but it just pulled up way too sore. I would have been no good to the team,'' Mortimer said. ''I was better off sitting in the ice bath - every time I heard a roar from the crowd I couldn't help but smile and think, 'Maybe I'll live again next week'.''
Both the Eels and the Bulldogs will now have key playmakers under an injury cloud; Bulldogs halfback Brett Kimmorley is attempting to return from a fractured cheekbone.
The grand-final qualifier will have a number of curious clashes; the Bulldogs have made no secret of coveting the signature of Mortimer, the rookie Eel with the famous Bulldogs name, while the match will be the first between the two teams in a preliminary final since the infamous, for Eels supporters at least, clash in 1998, in which the Bulldogs trailed 18-2 with 11 minutes remaining only to topple their traditional rivals in extra time.
Asked about the prospect of playing the Bulldogs, Mortimer said: ''That's one of the reasons I want to be on the paddock, to play the Doggies. To win against them a few weeks back [in round 20] was one of my highlights of the year. I'd say there'd be a bit bigger crowd and a bit bigger pressure on this game.''
Mortimer had no problem with the tackle, saying: ''It's a contact sport, I've just got to cop it on the chin.''
But Anderson was fuming.
''He didn't play the rest of the game, I'm pretty upset about that,'' the coach said. ''I've had numerous discussions with the referees about kick pressure this year, because I thought in the Origin series that the kickers were getting collected.
''I know Samuel pretty well from New Zealand, but he was a missile - he had his arms beside him, he didn't go for a tackle and he took out a player. To have nothing done is disappointing.''
Tagataese appeared to be under clear instructions to hussle the kickers and playmakers, and he clattered into Mortimer after four minutes as if he were some sort of search and destroy rocket. He was not penalised but was later warned by the officials.
Mortimer hobbled around for eight minutes but finally left the field with a hip pointer injury, his finals series suddenly and painfully in doubt.
Eels skipper Nathan Cayless said the fact that Mortimer came from such a bloodline was in his favour as he attempts to recover. ''He's got some pretty good breeding,'' Cayless said. ''He was in a pretty bad way, but I'm sure he's going to do everything he can to play next week. He's not going to want to miss out. He's a tough kid.''
Eels doctor Michael Johnson said he was hopeful Mortimer would play, saying of the hip cork: ''Clinically it's not too deep.'' But he was less certain about centre Krisnan Inu - as well as his replacement last night, Jonathan Wright.
Inu missed last night's match with a hamstring injury and remains in doubt for the preliminary final, while Wright will have an MRI to determine the extent of a left ankle injury. But he is more than likely to be out for the season.
The Eels had an able replacement for Mortimer in Feleti Mateo, who scored a 21st minute try for the club to help eliminate the Titans, and notch their ninth win from 10 games.
