Former Gold Coast Titans player Daniel Mortimer on life as a teacher, playing for Currumbin
Daniel Mortimer burst onto the scene spectacularly in 2009. His NRL career followed some ups and downs from there and the ex-Titan is now passing on his wisdom, both in the classroom and on the footy field.
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DANIEL Mortimer burst onto the scene spectacularly in 2009. His NRL career followed some ups and downs from there and the ex-Titan is now passing on his wisdom, both in the classroom and on the footy field.
Q: You obviously set yourself up well for life after footy. When did you start on your teaching degree?
A: Straight out of school when I moved to Sydney at 18, I did a year and a half full-time while I was doing 20s. It still took me another five or six years part-time – I had one year off when I first went to the Roosters – but yeah it was nice to have that first block done. I was sort of too far into it to stop because there was a few times where I wanted to give it up.
I graduated in 2015 so I have had about four years where it has just been there and ready to go and end of last year when I decided to hang the boots up I walked straight into a job (at Pimpama State Secondary College), which was very handy.
Q: More and more guys are playing into their mid-30s. Tell us about your decision to retire at 29?
A: Just the last few years I have had a couple of big surgeries. I was tossing up whether to push on or not but I thought it was just delaying the inevitable. It was time to focus and get a headstart on a new career. I was content with my decision and I still am.
Q: Was the plan always to come back to the Gold Coast for your next chapter?
A: Yeah, well my wife is from here and we have a house here and good mates. I still know a few of the Titans boys which has been handy.
But yeah that was our plan, especially after being in England freezing for two years, we decided it was a nice warm place to come home to.
Q: I can imagine it could be interesting being a high-profile bloke working as a teacher … do many students recognise you?
A: It’s good. It has been a really good icebreaker for me, straightaway especially teaching PE and I’m heading up rugby league up there, you have a lot in common with kids already. You have a talking point. It’s funny, you only need a few kids to recognise who you are then it spreads like wild fire.
The kids have been great; I cop some stick but I give some back too. It’s a universal language, rugby league, and it has really helped me break a few barriers down in terms of teaching.
Q: You have probably had this question a million times but what was it like growing up in the famed Mortimer family?
A: It was footy mad. I have got four brothers as well so we’re all footy mad. We would raid Dad’s cupboards for his old gear and videos and we were lucky to be able to experience going in the sheds a few times. It just gave us that hunger of wanting to pursue it as a profession so yeah, look it was cool.
I mean my Dad was Dad and my uncles were uncles but you did get stopped, especially when I started playing footy, by a lot of ex-players or older players with plenty of stories about the old man and the uncles so it was really nice to hear.
Q: You spent three years at the Titans. Does any one highlight stand out to you?
A: It was great. Footy-wise, I think fans would say the same, it was a frustrating time in terms of you could beat the best team on your day but then we would often drop games to teams we should beat. I think that has been a Titans curse the last few years, just that consistency.
It’s hard to pin down how to solve it. Whoever does I think will do really well because the squad is good enough. It’s a young squad as well. They have just got to keep building and keep working hard.
Q: Now that you’ve hung up the boots, is there a certain team you cheer for?
A: It’s funny, so many people ask me that. The only games now that I watch as a fan is Origin. I’m Blues through and through. That’s the only time I find myself really screaming at the TV as a fan. I miss that, but Origin gives me that still. I have got friends at the Roosters, Titans, even Eels, I have got a soft spot for them still, but I don’t scream at the TV.
Q: Many remember your starring role as a rookie in Parra’s charge to the 2009 final. How do you look back on that?
A: I sat with my old man a few months ago and we watched the highlights. It feels like a movie I watched, that year, it’s just surreal to think I was 20 and a year and a half out of school.
Making my debut in itself was my life goal but to go on a run like that and some of those memories that we had that year, like I said it’s so surreal to look back now and think that you experienced it. It’s an odd one. I don’t remember too much from the year, it was such a whirlwind, but you sit back in times like this when you have retired and look back on it with really good memories.
Q: Was it hard to live up to the suddenly lofty expectations in years to come?
A: Definitely. As a whole team we struggled the year after. Those patches of form that teams have, it’s hard to replicate that especially when you have got a lot of eyes on you.
Yeah, it’s frustrating not to live up to expectations but there is so many factors that influence that. We were definitely working hard enough but it’s just one of those things, it’s one of the mysteries of rugby league that we wish we all knew.
Q: What would you say to a player who is having trouble living up to expectations?
A: Just keep working hard. I had a few really tough years there where I thought my career would be over and then I went to the Roosters and Trent Robinson pretty much resurrected my career. That wouldn’t have happened if I didn’t keep working hard.
Q: At one stage during the summer you were being linked to every local club under the sun. Why was Currumbin the right choice?
A: To be honest I didn’t really look at the Gold Coast comp. I was tossing up whether to play on or not, I wasn’t too sure so I thought I would just put some feelers out there. I had a few bites and met a few people in that Northern Rivers comp.
When I landed the job at Pimpama, the travel was a bit far – half an hour or 40 minutes up that way and then to have to go another potential hour further south a couple of arvos a week and on the weekend; I had just retired from footy and I wanted to enjoy my weekends and time with my wife again. So I think that was just going to take too much time.
I have a mutual friend with Gundge (Currumbin coach Ryan Gundry) and after Round 1 Gundge gave me a call and said come down on a Sunday and watch the game and it just gave me really good memories of my country footy back in the bush and I just got a really good feeling straightaway. So I rang Gundge the next day and said I’m keen and I was there the next Tuesday (for training). They have been great and it has sort of filled a little bit of that void that I still miss about footy, like the camaraderie with the boys and the ball skills and stuff. There are still things I definitely miss about the NRL but there is a lot that I don’t as well so this sort of bridges that gap a little bit.
Q: Being a well-known name in an ultra competitive local league, do you ever feel like you have a target on your head?
A: I do, absolutely. We were down at Tugun the other week for the local derby and I was copping it left, right and centre off all of the fans as well but that’s what it’s about.
I have got a few boys who protect me on the field. In terms of the physicality of it, I think you get targeted but that’s no different really (to NRL).
Q: What do you want to achieve at the Eagles? Fun? Develop the next gen? Win a premiership?
A: Currumbin haven’t won a premiership yet so that’s a big goal for all of the club. You have got to buy into the club goals.
To me it was replacing that full-on footy life with just bridging that gap. Originally it was just a bit of fun and then you come down and as soon as you are in the game, your competitive streak comes straight back. I don’t think I will ever lose that, which is good. The day I lose that is probably the day I give it up for good.
Q: How are you enjoying working with the younger lads coming through the ranks?
A: Luke Jurd, who is linked with Tweed, we have had a few chats being in the halves together. He has asked me a bit of stuff about positional play which is quite rewarding, having someone take interest in your knowledge and your experience.
It takes me back to 10 or 12 years ago when I was that young fella wanting to get any knowledge. It’s weird to think that now I’m at the other end.
Age: 29
Born: Sydney
Raised: Orange, NSW
Position: Halves/hooker
NRL games: 128
Clubs: Parramatta (2009-11), Sydney (2012-14), Gold Coast (2014-16), Cronulla (2017)
Super League: Played with Leigh Centurions in 2017 and 2018
Wife: Tasley (Daniel and Tasley have their first child on the way)
THE MORTIMER BRIGADE
Father: Peter Mortimer
190 first grade games for Canterbury; represented NSW
Uncle: Steve Mortimer
254 first grade games for Canterbury; represented NSW and Australia
Uncle: Chris Mortimer
251 first grade games for Canterbury and Penrith; represented NSW and Australia
Uncle: Glen Mortimer
28 first grade games for Cronulla
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