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 56,000 as of June 2018, Wagga Wagga is the state's la ...

, New South Wales) is an Australian former professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 11 ...

footballer who played in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s for the

Canterbury-Bankstown Canterbury-Bankstown is a customary region of Sydney, Australia, in the south-western suburbs. The area is located around the Bankstown railway line, to the west of the St George region and to the south of the Inner West region. The suburbs ...

, Penrith,

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

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 A ...

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 who is the head coach of the Australian national team and a former professional rugby league footballer. Meninga is widely regarded as one of the fin ...

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 Lea ...

in the big matches. Chris and his two older brothers

Steve Mortimer Stephen Charles Mortimer (born 15 July 1956), also nicknamed "Turvey", is an Australian former rugby league footballer who played as a . Mortimer played a Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs club record 272 first-grade games between 1976–88, winni ...

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, offi ...

Playing career

Post playing

References

See also