PARRAMATTA five-eighth Daniel Mortimer is confident the Eels’ signing of South Sydney halfback Chris Sandow on a rich four-year deal will give the club the kick it needs to get their 2011 campaign back on track.
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Sandow will get first crack at the famous blue and gold No.7 jersey for the 2012 season, leaving Mortimer and half Jeff Robson in a showdown for the No.6.
Mortimer said Sandow’s signature will put pressure on a number of players - including himself - but it might just be the tonic the Eels need for 2011.
“Absolutely. It’s kind of a good thing all of the speculation is over and we can really focus on our footy now,” Mortimer said.
“It puts us under pressure to hold our spot next year but it could be a good thing. It could give us the little kick we needed. We’re still very much focused on this year and what we have to do.”
Mortimer was back in Orange this week with the Eels enjoying a round nine bye.
“Every time I have few days off I always try and get home. It wasn’t so much I needed a break or to get my mind away, it’s just I love coming home and seeing the family,” he said back at the family vineyard.
Despite the 21-year-old saying he hasn’t come home to Orange to take his mind off things, there’s no hiding the fact the Eels have been hammered for their slow start to the season.
Under new coach Stephen Kearney, they’ve won three of their opening eight matches and currently sit in 12th place - above last year’s grand finalist the Sydney Roosters and the heavily-backed Canberra Raiders.
So are things really as bad as they seem?
Mortimer doesn’t think so.
“There are a few teams doing worse but Parra seems to always be a focal point,” he said.
“There’s always a lot of interest in Parramatta, I guess, which brings about pressure. But I mean, it’s a good place to be under the microscope. A lot of people are interested in the team and how we’re going.
“We haven’t had the best start to the year but it’s only very early days. We’re confident within ourselves that we can make the eight at the end of the year.”
However, things only get tougher from here on.
The Eels travel to North Queensland to take on the fourth-placed Cowboys next Saturday night.
“We knocked them off a few weeks back which is probably one of our best performances of the year and they’ve only lost a couple of games this year,” said the CYMS junior, referring to their 22-20 win over the Cowboys at Parramatta Stadium.
“They’ll be very hard, especially up there.
“They’re a good side, we’ll have to really bounce back off this bye week. A win up there will be pretty big news.”
Mortimer will go up against Test half Johnathan Thurston in the Cowboys game.
If the diminutive Eels playmaker can get one up against Thurston next Saturday, it’ll go a long way to securing two competition points for Parramatta.
“I think (Thurston) is the benchmark of the game. He is just a freak of a player,” Mortimer said.
“It’s exciting coming up against players of his calibre, just to compare yourself. I’m still in awe of some of the players I’m up against and he’s definitely one of them.”
After bursting onto the scene in the 2009 season, Mortimer was touted as a future representative star.
But with the Eels struggling in their last two campaigns, Mortimer has, too.
He said although it was a dream to one day play for NSW Country, NSW and the Kangaroos, the Eels were his primary focus.
“Down the track if I got offered a Country jersey I’d take it with both hands but I’m still very much focused on Parramatta and what we need to do to make the eight,” he said.
The Eels take on North Queensland at Dairy Farmers Stadium on 7.30pm on Saturday, May 14.
But in the meantime, Mortimer will be relaxing back at home and enjoying his time here in Orange.
