I think it's quite harsh, actually. It's one thing to bag out someone like Finchy - he's already in his mid-twenties and has a lot of experience. But to crucify a young kid who busts a gut but is ineffective due to a large number of reasons...I thought we were supposed to all be Eels fans here? And last I checked, Daniel Mortimer is an Eel. And when he was tossing up whether to stay here or go to the DOGEEZ BRA!!!!, many here were freaking out that he would leave.
Bah.
Perfectly agree. Says a lot about supposed 'fans' here.
"IT is harsh but its a business and he should not be considered for nrl again has got nothing ."
Wow. Tell that to every team that does their level best to shut him down.
Tell that to him after what he did individually last year.
There is no player in Rugby League that has got 'nothing'. The issue with Mortimer this year is that he has been forced to play a style of game he will never adapt to; moving him to halfback was a terrible decision, when he is clearly too young and lacking the halfback skills to wear the number 7 and be given all responsibility for organising our team. You look at the average age a halfback debuts, it it is around 23 or so, and these players usually play halfback through their whole education.
Mortimer is 21, and has never played halfback before.
Pretty obvious what the problem with Mortimer is....
But let's look at his strengths;
STRENGTHS
Easily the toughest young player in the NRL. -something that is very important in RL
A good defender given his size. -something that is very important in RL
Never say die attitude. -possibly THE most important thing in RL
More heart than any other young player I have seen. -obviously very important in RL.
A good short-kicking game, if you want evidence of this watch video highlights of him from this year or last year to see that when it works, it has brilliant results; his grubber and chip-kicks for himself when he is on are brilliant. -a very good attacking attribute, one that is typical of a GOOD FIVE-EIGHTH.
Brilliant support-running and good running game. When he is playing his natural game at FIVE-EIGHTH and on song, Mortimer cuts through defenders with relative ease, and he is extremely fast off the mark. If you had him at five-eighth with Cooper Cronk at halfback, he would be the Eels version of Billy Slater (the Cronk/Slater combo).
Those last points tell you immediately what his best position is. Why he was moved to halfback is beyond me. That is a decision the coach made, and it is quite obviously why Mortimer has struggled so badly this year (that and opposition teams have figured out how to defend against him and shut him down). When you look at the games this year when he has played his best, it has been when he has been allowed to play his natural supporting game; his chip-kick try against the Sharks should tell you that, plus his short grubbers for himself last year were fantastic.
What do you notice about this year, that he hasn't been doing? He hasn't been doing chip-kicking or played a support-player role at all, thus quite OBVIOUSLY the reason he is struggling. Whenever you take a player away from their natural game, especially when they are that young, it can have dire consequences. Of course Mortimer is in a form slump, but I bet he would be playing so much better if Anderson had let him play at five-eighth.
What did last night show? He played five-eighth, showed more heart than any other player and was actually one of our better players that night in a sh*t team.
So before you say he has got 'nothing', maybe you should look at my list, which are all proven by fact, and then make up your mind. He is a five-eighth, not a halfback. Want to know why he has been sh*t this year? Ask the coach for making him wear the no 7 and not allowing him to play his natural, and best, type of game.
