Chris Mortimer (born 19 August 1959 in

Wagga Wagga Wagga Wagga (; informally called Wagga) is a major regional city in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. Straddling the Murrumbidgee River, with an urban population of more than 57,003 as of 2021, it is an important agricultural, m ...

, New South Wales) is an Australian former professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

footballer who played in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s for the Canterbury-Bankstown, Penrith,

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

and for the

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

national side.

Playing career

Chris Mortimer was the youngest of the three famous brothers to play for Canterbury during the late 1970s, and 1980s. Glen Mortimer the 4th brother played 26 first grade games for Cronulla-Sutherland between 1983 and 1987 after starting out in the Bulldogs lower grades. Mortimer played 192 first grade games for Canterbury between 1978 and 1987. He was a member of the Canterbury Premiership winning teams in 1980, 1984 and 1985 and played in Canterbury's Grand Final losses in 1979 and 1986. Mortimer played for Penrith between 1988–90 and his final game for Penrith was in the 1990 Grand Final and has long been regarded as the best and most important signing made by the club at the time. Mortimer also enjoyed success at representative level playing eight matches for NSW in 1984, 1985, 1986 and 1986. Mortimer played one Test against Papua New Guinea in 1986 and was a member of the undefeated Kangaroo Tour squad. His toughness, steel and defence were all very important during NSW's State of Origin series victories in 1985–86 with the 1985 triumph captained by brother Steve. Regarded as one of the toughest centres during his career, Mortimer enjoyed great success against champions such as Michael Cronin,

Mal Meninga Malcolm Norman Meninga (; born 8 July 1960) is an Australian professional rugby league coach and a former professional rugby league footballer. Meninga is widely regarded as one of the finest players in the game's history. He enjoyed a long ca ...

and

Gene Miles Gene Miles (born 21 July 1959) is an Australian former rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s. An Australian international and Queensland State of Origin representative , he played his club football in the Brisbane Rugby Le ...

in the big matches. Chris and his two older brothers Steve Mortimer and Peter Mortimer played in four Grand Finals together. Peter was a non-playing reserve in 1986 due to injury and only Steve was around when the 1988 Grand Final was played. No pair of brothers, yet alone trio of brothers have played in four Grand Finals together in the last 30 years. Steve and Chris ended up playing in five Grand Finals together. All three Mortimer brothers are Life Members of the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs Football Club.

Post playing

On 24 October 2000, Chris Mortimer was recipient of

Australian Sports Medal The Australian Sports Medal is an award given to recognise achievements in Australian sport to commemorate Australian participation in major sporting events. Original recipients of the award included competitors, coaches, sports scientists, off ...

Playing career

Post playing

References

See also