Anderson upset at 'missile' on Mortimer
Parramatta coach Daniel Anderson has slammed the blind eye turned to a "missile" attack on Daniel Mortimer that has left the young rookie in doubt for next Friday's NRL preliminary final with the Bulldogs.
Mortimer left the field with a hip injury in the 12th minute after he was taken out by Gold Coast replacement Sam Tagataese following a clearing kick in just the fifth minute of the game.
The 20-year-old rookie sensation limped through the next seven minutes before finally being replaced by Feleti Mateo as the Eels went on to beat the Gold Coast 27-2 at the Sydney Football Stadium.
Tagataese was warned by the referees at a scrum a few minutes following the incident but Anderson was livid that no penalty was awarded during the game.
"I'm pretty upset about that. I've had numerous discussions with the referees about kick pressure this year because I've thought in the Origin series that the kickers were getting collected," said Anderson.
"I know Samuel (Tagataese) pretty well from New Zealand but he was a missile. He had his arms beside him, he didn't go for a tackle and he took out a player.
"It doesn't matter who it was, whether it was a young bloke or not, he took him out and to have nothing done is disappointing.
"If he didn't finish the game and he couldn't get back on the field then he is in doubt for next week." Mortimer is not the only injury concern for the Eels, with stand-in centre Jonathan Wright suffering an ankle injury.
Wright has been Krisnan Inu's superb understudy for the past two weeks, but with Inu still battling a hamstring injury that kept him out of the semi-final clash Anderson faces an unwanted casualty ward during the week.
"I'm not sure if Jonathan Wright will be available anyway because he has done some damage to his ankle," said Anderson.
"I do want Krisnan available because we are getting a bit skinny.
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