I saw Steve Mortimer throughout his playing career and he was indeed one of the best half backs I've seen but I would point out that the game was far different back when he played than today. Johnathon Thurston in my opinion is without doubt the best halfback and quite possibly the best player I've seen play the game. He had it all with a great kicking game, a brilliant football brain, toughness and a great goal kicker to boot. I only wish that Coffs Harbour debacle had never happened or he may well have stayed with us. Anyway back to Mortimer who was brilliantly quick and the best cover defender I've ever seen in his prime. I remember he use to have match races put on against St George half back Steve "Slippery" Morris (father of the Morris Brothers). Morris was to quick for Mortimer over the shorter distances as he was lightning quick but Mortimer was able to sustain his pace and quicken when needed to make a cover defending tackle. In attack he'd chip and chase regather and score on numerous occasions. Had far more pace than Sterlo who had a great football brain and kicking game but was well supported by a representative backline so I'm glad we had Mortimer over Sterlo. I always rated Brett Kenny higher than Sterlo in regards to the importance of the Eels team. He was a freakish player Brett Kenny. One last stat you missed on Steve Mortimer he was the first successful NSW captain to win the State Of Origin Series.
You must be on the wrong side of 40 like me. I was aware of him being the first NSW captain to win SOO and Morris Snr but my post was getting too long. Morris had the slight edge in the match race but Morris couldn't chip and regather at will or score so often from the scrum base or dummy half like Mortimer.
Thurston had the benefit of having free reign to do anything by coach Murray as Cowboys were a basket case and they had nothing to lose. For a long time Thurston had tons of Origin and Test players (9+) in his team but in reality was responsible for only 1 premiership as in 2004 he was a part time bench player during the year and only played in the GF because Price was out injured. His impact at the Dogs was minimal. His career stats don't stack compared to Mortimer who had to fundamentally change his style of play in 84 onwards because of Wok. He butted heads with Wok who refused to allow him to play his natural game and yet was still the most influential player in our team. There was a video on Mortimer circulating on youtube years ago now taken down because of copyright. In that video the legendary league caller Frank Hyde rated Mortimer the best half he's ever seen, better than Sterling and Alex Murphy and "tackles as good as Raper". He said Sterling had the advantage over Mortimer only when they were playing in the UK because of those conditions. In the same video "immortal" Bob Fulton said Mortimer was the "best halfback I've ever seen" and the "single most influential reason why the Bulldogs won those premierships in the 80's". The dogs had not won a GF for 38 years until Mortimer arrived. 38 years! In 79 when we came from 5th to the GF Mortimer scored 2 brilliant long distance solo tries in the sudden death SF against Cronulla, then another brilliant match winning solo try evading 5 players to beat Parra in the GF qualifier when were behind on the scoreboard. All those tries were scored from a standing start. In the 79 GF we were getting smashed by St George and Mortimer saved at least 3 tries with his trademark cover defence. In the 80 GF he again saved 3 tries with his trademark cover defence even when the opposition winger had a head start. Match saver and match winner throughout his career. If some player did that now with the frequency Mortimer did in his career it would be all over social media and the press would be raving and calling him the "GOAT".
re: Kenny, I agree I thought Kenny was more influential than Sterling. In my view Sterlo became a media darling with the press as they needed a poster boy to spread the game in the outer west as Parra had never won a comp. Its the bandwagon effect, one journalist raved about Sterlo and the rest just follow. Sterlo throws a pass and 10 passes later someone scores but the commentator will say the try was only possible because of Sterlo. The same hype applies to "King" Wally Lewis who was a failure in the ARL.
To me the hype around Thurston, Johns etc is that the latest is always the greatest when it comes to sport so the media jump on the bandwagon. You'll often see the phrase "we/they were diabolical" in post match interviews, match reports etc which is a nonsensical phrase. "Diabolical" means having characteristics of the devil but one day one idiot journalist used it and then it became the trend in the NRL. Just goes to show that what is generally accepted or used is not necessarily based on facts.
re: Coffs Harbour
I don't want to slag the guy but I heard that the instigator of that sordid event was not resigned at the end of the year.
Fire the fuck up, for the first time in a decade we're going to be playing attacking fast football. Barrett wont play the boring BS we've been serving up for the last decade and Tolman will no longer be the centre of our attack lol.
