THE Parramatta Eels have had a mixed start to the NRL season but Daniel Mortimer says he is having fun.
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The former Orange CYMS junior is enjoying his third season with the NRL side and working with new coach Stephen Kearney.
“The pre-season seems to take a while but once the season starts it flies,” Mortimer said.
“I’m really enjoying working under Stephen Kearney. He’s very professional.”
The Eels’ season has see-sawed.
They started with an impressive 24-18 win over over the New Zealand Warriors before recording back-to-back losses to Penrith and Souths.
On Saturday Parramatta recorded a last-minute 22-20 win over North Queensland, something Mortimer said was satisfying.
“It’s great to come out on top after those kind of games,” he said.
“There’s quite a few new blokes in the team so we’re still getting used to those structures.
“Carl Webb, Chris Walker, Casey McGuire, those guys have been around for a long time. I watched them when I was growing up. To be playing with them as well as Hindy (Nathan Hindmarsh) and Burty (Luke Burt) is weird.”
Mortimer said he was also enjoying developing his halves combination with Jeff Robson, as well as working with fullback Jarryd Hayne.
The 21-year-old said when the Eels lost, their completion rate was down and this was something they were working on.
He expects they will be tested this Sunday when they go up against the Melbourne Storm at AAMI Park.
“We’re heading down to Melbourne to play at the new stadium. We didn’t get to play them there last year, so we’re really looking forward to this game,” he said.
“They got towelled up by Cowboys, so I expect them to come out very hard. The Storm are always a threat to the competition. It’s a big test but we’re up to it.”
