Stadium (Turvey had broken his arm during the Bulldogs Round 21 match against St George at Belmore, but recovered sufficiently to take his place in Phil Gould's side on GF day). Lamb would later captain the Bulldogs between 1990 and 1995 and usher in a new breed of Bulldogs that weren't around in the Mortimer era. Mortimer received an offer to switch clubs in 1987 and very nearly joined the Bob Fulton coached Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles, but stayed put at Canterbury (Manly won the premiership that year while the Bulldogs finished only 1 point out of the finals). He was advised to retire after 1988 rather than join another club, which ensured his status as one of the most loyal players to play the game of rugby league. Surprisingly, despite their success when playing together at Canterbury, Mortimer and Lamb only ever partnered each other once in the halves for New South Wales. This was in Game 2 of the 1984 State of Origin series on a very wet and muddy Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG), with Queensland winning 14–2. They never got the chance to play together for Australia as Queensland captain Wally Lewis was the test five-eighth and also test captain from 1984. Despite troubles at Canterbury during his latter years, including a well publicised feud with Warren Ryan who coached the team from 1984–1987, Mortimer was a one-club man and retired playing 272 first grade games, which at the time was the most for one NSWRL club. It was also around this time that when appearing before the NSWRL Judiciary, the chairman of the judiciary, Sydney lawyer Jim Comans who was leading the campaign to stamp out violence in the game, told Mortimer that if he appeared before him again "Rugby league will be just a memory for you".'. Mortimer's representative career faced challenges from other great halfbacks of his era including Tommy Raudonikis, Steve Morris, Kevin Hastings and most notably Peter Sterling. Despite the presence of great halfbacks, Mortimer played 16 matches for New South Wales between 1977 and 1985, including nine under the State of Origin banner. Mortimer captained the Blues in 1984/85 in three matches (all victories) and was the first captain to lead New South Wales to State of Origin success in 1985. He was also named man-of-the-match in the final game of the 1984 State of Origin series at Brisbane's Lang Park. Mortimer