Official Marking the ends of a era: Thank you Turvey!

Turvey Chip and Chase

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As a kid I was a Jets and Tigers fan until I saw Mortimer play on tv in the 70's. I've said it many times on TK that he's the greatest player I've ever seen. He's easily the most exciting and brilliant player ever. Dogs have won 8 GF over 85 years, half of those GF were won in Mortimer's 13 years at the club.
A lot of the younger fans here wet their pants over Thurston and Johns but compare their career GF statistics to Turvey and they don't stack up. Doggies fans born after Turvey played don't know how magical he was.
Mortimer is the only HB I've seen that had ALL the attributes: Explosive acceleration from a standing start, able to score long distance solo tries, scrum base and against a set defense, chip and regather consistently, vision, astute passing, kicking, chase down wingers, the greatest cover defender of all time.
Johns, Thurston, Sterling, Langer, Cronk, Stuart - none of those great HB could do what Mortimer did.
I'll take Mortimer over "Immortals" Wally Lewis, Johns, Gasnier, Raper, Churchill, Langlands, Fulton, Beetson, Meninga and "future immortal" Thurston every day of the week.
You gave me chills!! Exactly THIS.

Sterlo was great, but let’s bot forget he had a too supportive cast in outside backs. The best 5/8 I’ve ever seen, Ella, Cronin, Grothe.

In the era where we were the entertainers (not Parra), Turvey was our stand out KING.
 

Turvey Chip and Chase

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I’m hopeless with links and stuff, but can anyone post the YouTube clip of Turvey that goes for a while? It’ll give the never fans a true insight as to just what a f’n genius this guy was. He toyed with defences!

I have mates who hate our club (fair enough) but they still reminisce about the old days and just how fricking unbelievable this guy was.
 

bulldogsmyte

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I’m hopeless with links and stuff, but can anyone post the YouTube clip of Turvey that goes for a while? It’ll give the never fans a true insight as to just what a f’n genius this guy was. He toyed with defences!

I have mates who hate our club (fair enough) but they still reminisce about the old days and just how fricking unbelievable this guy was.
Sudden death semi 1979

Solo Try GF Qualifier 1979 when Dogs were behind Parra

Turvey Highlights Part 1
 

bulldogsmyte

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Grew up supporting the Dogs not just because I was born and bred in the area, but BECAUSE of this great man.

absolute superstar of the game with 4 premierships, kangaroo tours and our first NSW captain to win a series. Why he is never even mentioned when discussing Immortals is beyond me. (Well... it’s obvious, he was never a channel 9 bum boy) anyway....

off the field ive had the pleasure to chat with him a couple of times. Super humble, super human.

I loved Baa, but to me, Steve “Turvey” Mortimer will ALWAYS be what epitomizes a true Canterbury Bankstown Bulldog. Always put the welfare of the club first. Played in an era of men, not boys like today...

thank you for everything Mr Mortimer.
100% spot on. Growing up I lived in the St George area but I became a Dogs fan because of Turvey as well. There are a select few elite sportsmen that when you see them perform its obvious they have a skill level and style that is beyond their peers. I call it "magic" and Mortimer fits in that category, just like Federer, Viv Richards, Zidane etc in their respective sports.
The "Immortals" hype was a promo started by Penfold Wines back in the late 70's or early 80's who sponsored St George which explains why 3 of the original 4 immortals were St George players. IMO certain players are favourites with the media and in the late 70's Mortimer hit the headlines with his dazzling play but it changed when Parra won their hatrick of GF in the 80's and Sterlo became the pin up boy for the media who were pushing for the sport's popularity in the west.
 

off-tap-robbie

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I’m hopeless with links and stuff, but can anyone post the YouTube clip of Turvey that goes for a while? It’ll give the never fans a true insight as to just what a f’n genius this guy was. He toyed with defences!

I have mates who hate our club (fair enough) but they still reminisce about the old days and just how fricking unbelievable this guy was.

 

ash160

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What an absolute champion he is now and was as a player for the bulldogs.

He had a can do attitude and a will to win, tough as nails. As good or better than all of his contemporaries in my opinion.

Great memories and huge part of our clubs history....Steve Mortimer, you’ll always be a bulldogs legend!
 

D- voice

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It has been 33 years since he last played but the passion for rugby league still burns bright in the eyes of Bulldogs Legend Steve ‘Turvey’ Mortimer OAM, who recently retired from the
League Club Board bringing to an end one of the greatest rugby league playing and administrative careers.

He vividly recalls playing in the 1976 Preliminary Final against Manly-Warringah and going up against his idol, Bob Fulton. In that moment, he felt flabbergasted to be playing on the same field as the player he grew up worshipping but in true Turvey fashion, he shook off the nerves and got stuck right into the game. The Berries lost 12-15 and Manly eventually went on to become the 1976 Premiers but that game capped off a sweet start to his career with the Berries.

“I used to, as a halfback, stand behind our defence so that if anyone broke through, I would go around their legs and pull them down. My love for rugby league was setting up the game to run the ball – you have to look at where your teammates are and flip the ball to them – that’s what I was pretty good at, looking at the opposition and seeing the gaps,” said Steve.

During the club’s golden era of the eighties, Steve was instrumental in helping the Bulldogs reach an impressive six grand finals, winning four of them, and captaining three of them including consecutive titles in 1984 and 1985.

“The Bulldogs won their first grand final in 1980, going back almost 40 years ago [since their last Premiership in 1942]. It was so great, we beat the Eastern Suburbs Roosters 18-4, in other words, we stuck it up them,” Steve said with a laugh.

“It was truly an unbelievable dream of a country boy from Wagga Wagga, made all the sweeter because my brothers Chris and Peter were also my teammates that year together with the Hughes brothers – we had a very good team.”

“After that Grand Final, we came back to the league club and had plenty of beer. My brothers and I fell asleep in the offices – tired and drunk after all the celebrations!”

Steve went on to represent the Canterbury-Bankstown Berries/Bulldogs in 272 first grade games until he retired, as a one-club man, in 1988. He held the National Rugby League record for most
first-grade games for a single club until 1998 and still holds the second most first grade games for the Bulldogs behind Hazem El Masri.

From a young age, Steve suffered from asthma, but he didn’t let that or his size deter him from becoming one of the Bulldogs greatest players with his keen tactical mind, signature speed and
quick feet.

“My dad, who was a policeman, got transferred to Wagga Wagga from Sydney when I was 5. We lived in Kooringal and at that time the Kooringal Magpies did not have a junior team. My dad said, ‘Alright Magpies, you’ve got a junior club now’ and that was it!” reminisced Steve.

“Growing up, my brothers and I played for that team and it was just wonderful; we knew each other’s game and my dad was a great coach to us kids.”

“I was never a Berries/Bulldogs fan [when I was a kid]; my dad was a Balmain supporter, so I was a Balmain fan too even though my family used to live in Yagoona. But then I came to the Bulldogs, and all my brothers soon followed, so it became all about the Bulldogs,” he said laughingly.

“Playing with my brothers, Peter and Chris, was just a great privilege – Peter was absolutely great in attacking and running and Chris is the toughest bastard out of all of us Mortimer boys.”

“I’d ask how he was going, and he would always reply with one word, ‘Alright.’”

The memories continue to come fast and furious as he talks: He remembers feeling chuffed to make the NSW team in 1977, only his second year with the Berries.

He remembers being there in 1978 as the Canterbury-Bankstown Berries transitioned to becoming the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs that we all know today.

He remembers cheering and kissing the ground after five-eighth Brett Kenny scored a decisive try in the very last minute of play in Game 2 of the 1985 State of Origin, thus ending Queensland’s dominance over the previous series.

“I am a simple country boy at heart and through rugby league and the Bulldogs, I got to play the greatest game whilst earning a living and supporting my family,” said Steve.

“I was 32 when I retired – I still wanted to play but it wasn’t meant to be. Looking back though, I had 13 great years and a wonderful career; I played in 6 Grand Finals, I had the chance to play for Australia, and I had the chance to beat Queensland for the first time.”

Post-retirement, Steve kept himself busy with a range of businesses including a marketing and promotions company, and founded Australian Shuffleboard which promotes the game of shuffleboard in the community.

He has also made several media appearances, became a sports commentor in Channel Seven’s Sports World and Fox Sports NRL coverage in the early 1990s and used his profile to advocate player safety in the game.

“I still say that rugby league is the greatest game in the world but there needs to be a greater spotlight on player safety. The game was a lot faster and dirtier back in my playing days, which made it exciting to watch, but it meant that a lot of players got hurt. It is great to see the NRL implement rule changes such as banning high and mid-air tackles.”

“There are many schools that don’t want to play rugby league because of what you see on the field. Rugby league administrators need to sit down with primary and secondary schools to talk about the game and how together, they can make the game safer and more attractive to the next generation,” said Steve.

In January 2003, Steve was elected a Canterbury League Club Director, a position he held for 18 years. In that time, he sat as a member of the ClubGrants Sub-Committee which made recommendations on community funding and often you would see him hanging around Canterbury chatting to members and having a coffee.

“I have always been a family man and I became a Canterbury Director to give back to the club that has done so much for my family. During my years at the league club, I got the opportunity to speak directly to members and help them overcome issues that they might be having such as problem gambling,” said Steve.

He continues to be a staunch family man: husband to wife Karen Johnson-Mortimer for 40 years, dad to his children, Matthew, Andrew and Erin, and now proud grandparent of three – Lachlan, Harrison and newly arrived granddaughter, Rosie.

“The Board of Canterbury would like to extend the warmest of wishes to Steve and thank him for almost two decades of his support as a Canterbury League Club Director. I have only ever known him as a great clubman who cares about the Bulldogs and the league club. He always has a friendly smile for any supporter or club member, is quick to laugh, and a firm handshake for everyone he meets. Good luck Steve, and from all of us at Canterbury, thank you,” said Paul Dunn, Chairman of Canterbury League Club.






TURVEY The GREATEST...
YOU ARE AN IMMORTAL !!!
Thank you and God bless you !!!
 

Dunning Kruger

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I remember listening to Frank Hyde calling a Berries game on 2SM early in 76, Steve’s first season in Sydney. I hadn’t heard of Steve Mortimer before, but every time the ball went to him, you could hear the crowd lifting in anticipation that something was going to happen. I could tell we had found someone special.
 

bulldogsmyte

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Who could ever forget his trademark chip ‘n chase.

I used to practice them endlessly in the backyard whilst doing my own Frank Hyde commentary.
Ah yes, the legendary Frank Hyde. I spent countless afternoons listening to him when he was calling Dogs games.
"It's high enough, it's long enough, it's straight between the posts".
There used to be a video on youtube on Turvey where Frank Hyde and Bozo in the late 80's called him the "best halfback I've ever seen"
 

top-dog

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Thanks for the great memories Turvey especially at Belmore all the best to you a true leader.
 

B-Train

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Turvey did so much for the club as a footballer and as an administrator later in life and has been through the highs and lows of the clubs history over the years. He bleeds blue and white and is one of the most genuinely lovely people I've ever met. A true legend and ambassador for the club and the code.

Turvey along with Baa and Folkesy are three of the most synonymous players that helped build the Bulldog culture of success and determination..

His service to the club is unmatched and I hope he can get his health sorted out long enough that he sees us become a premiership winner again within the next 5-10 years.
 

blue & white blood

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Grew up supporting the Dogs not just because I was born and bred in the area, but BECAUSE of this great man.

absolute superstar of the game with 4 premierships, kangaroo tours and our first NSW captain to win a series. Why he is never even mentioned when discussing Immortals is beyond me. (Well... it’s obvious, he was never a channel 9 bum boy) anyway....

off the field ive had the pleasure to chat with him a couple of times. Super humble, super human.

I loved Baa, but to me, Steve “Turvey” Mortimer will ALWAYS be what epitomizes a true Canterbury Bankstown Bulldog. Always put the welfare of the club first. Played in an era of men, not boys like today...

thank you for everything Mr Mortimer.
I also grew up supporting the Bulldogs because of this great man, and your post says exactly what I wanted to say nearly word for word, For all the fans of our vintage who were fortunate enough to watch Steve Mortimer play you will know what I mean when I tell you that he nearly single handedly made the Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs the great club that it is today and I have argued for years now that the selection of immortals is Bullshit without the greatest most exciting player to have ever played the game "the Arch bishop of Canterbury " Steve Mortimer. And with no disrespect to Terry Lamb ( our second best Bulldog ) I have always dreamt of breaking into the Canterbury Leagues Club and swapping the heads around on that painting because I fully believe that Steve Mortimer should be the player getting chaired off.
STEVE MORTIMER a Superman on the Field a gentleman of the field, The legend will live on, you are an Immortal where it matters most, in the hearts of The Canterbury Bankstown Bulldog supporters, THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES STEVE MORTIMER - ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY OUR TOP DOG.1617816686897.png
 

blue & white blood

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As a kid I was a Jets and Tigers fan until I saw Mortimer play on tv in the 70's. I've said it many times on TK that he's the greatest player I've ever seen. He's easily the most exciting and brilliant player ever. Dogs have won 8 GF over 85 years, half of those GF were won in Mortimer's 13 years at the club.
A lot of the younger fans here wet their pants over Thurston and Johns but compare their career GF statistics to Turvey and they don't stack up. Doggies fans born after Turvey played don't know how magical he was.
Mortimer is the only HB I've seen that had ALL the attributes: Explosive acceleration from a standing start, able to score long distance solo tries, scrum base and against a set defense, chip and regather consistently, vision, astute passing, kicking, chase down wingers, the greatest cover defender of all time.
Johns, Thurston, Sterling, Langer, Cronk, Stuart - none of those great HB could do what Mortimer did.
I'll take Mortimer over "Immortals" Wally Lewis, Johns, Gasnier, Raper, Churchill, Langlands, Fulton, Beetson, Meninga and "future immortal" Thurston every day of the week.
I Love it , brilliantly written, I agree %100 with everything you've said, GREAT POST.
 

blue & white blood

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I’m hopeless with links and stuff, but can anyone post the YouTube clip of Turvey that goes for a while? It’ll give the never fans a true insight as to just what a f’n genius this guy was. He toyed with defences!

I have mates who hate our club (fair enough) but they still reminisce about the old days and just how fricking unbelievable this guy was.
Steve Mortimer Career Highlights Part 3 - YouTube
Steve Mortimer Top Dog - YouTube
Steve Mortimer Double Brilliance - Canterbury v Cronulla 1979 - YouTube
Great Origin Stories: Mortimer lifts Blues - YouTube
Steve Mortimer Try 1979 Semi Final Canterbury v Parramatta - YouTube
"Canterbury-Bankstown have scored an absolute sizzler" Terry Lamb Try 1985 Rd 4 Canterbury v Easts - YouTube
Steve Mortimer cover tackles Eric Grothe special 1984 Semi Final Bulldogs v Eels - YouTube
ENJOY.
 

blue & white blood

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Ah yes, the legendary Frank Hyde. I spent countless afternoons listening to him when he was calling Dogs games.
"It's high enough, it's long enough, it's straight between the posts".
There used to be a video on youtube on Turvey where Frank Hyde and Bozo in the late 80's called him the "best halfback I've ever seen"
The video is called "TOP DOG"
 
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