NRL: How Jack Hetherington overcame cracked sternum to star at the Warriors this season
Penrith prop Jack Hetherington is excelling in his loan stint with the New Zealand Warriors, but this time last year he couldn’t make the Panthers’ NRL side due to a cracked sternum.
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Jack Hetherington‘s rise as the NRL’s most talked about enforcer at the New Zealand Warriors doesn’t surprise his uncle, Raiders legend Brett Mullins.
Mullins revealed Hetherington played with a cracked sternum in the Canterbury Cup ranks at Penrith last season.
Panthers officials were originally uncertain about the injury, as the crack didn’t show up on initial scans.
Doctors in NSW were also reluctant to operate given the nature of the injury, which forced Hetherington to have surgery in Queensland to confirm the crack.
At the time, mystery surrounded why Hetherington couldn’t make his way back into the first-grade side.
On top of his injury, the prop was also dealing with a number of issues off the field.
“Last year was a weird one for me, I was in a bad place physically and mentally… it was a real difficult year for me,” Hetherington admitted in an interview last year.
“I’ve got a really good support base here at Penrith, the welfare department and the coaches helped a lot with my mental stuff.”
Hetherington played 13 NRL games in his rookie season in 2018, but barring two top-grade matches, he spent most of the year languishing in the Canterbury Cup.
Now ahead of Friday’s Warriors versus Manly clash at Lottoland, Mullins has lifted the lid on Hetherington’s painful 2019 season at Penrith.
“Jack’s father ended up getting an independent X-ray and they found the crack in there and he had a plate inserted,” said Mullins, who played 209 NRL games for Canberra and the Roosters.
“They showed Penrith the results, and it opened their eyes a bit.
“Jack is very tough to have played all year with that, but his football went backwards.”
Hetherington’s struggles last season seem like a lifetime ago following his switch to the Warriors as part of a loan from Penrith.
He has excelled in his five games for the New Zealanders, including a standout 80-minute performance in last week’s upset win over the Wests Tigers.
Mullins couldn’t be prouder of his nephew’s form after his injury battles at the Panthers last season.
“Bloody oath, I think it is the best move he has made going to the Warriors,” he said.
“He is getting some game time, and they are playing him a bit wider.
“He is going really well. He wasn’t getting much game time this year, so the best thing was going to the Warriors.
“He is starting to get his timing and match fitness back. He played 80 minutes against the Tigers, so he is a player that you need in your side.”
Hetherington has also earned a reputation after going toe-to-toe with Roosters big man Jared Waerea-Hargreaves in round 11.
He exchanged several fiery clashes with Waerea-Hargreaves, who refused to shake his hand at full-time.
Mullins loved every minute of Hetherington’s hit-man mentality.
“He has always played like that, Jack,” he said.
“He has always been that little Bamm-Bamm Rubble – in that he was always getting around and getting up to mischief as that forthright kind of guy.
“I think we brought up all the kids the same, you know, get out there and have a go.
“And that is what Jack does, and he won’t take a backwards step, don’t you worry about that.
“He is tough as nails.”
Mullins praised Hetherington for his class to leave the table-topping Panthers, and he expects him to return to the foot of the mountains next year twice the player following his Warriors stint.
“You can either whinge about it or get on with it and do your job, and that is what Jack is doing,” he said.
“It is out of his hands. He can’t pick the side at Penrith, so the best move was going to the Warriors and getting game time which will only improve his game.
“The more time that Jack gets on the paddock, the better he will go.
“He hasn’t had much game time in the last couple of years due to injury or getting suspended, but the last few weeks at the Warriors he has improved in every game.”
Originally published as NRL: How Jack Hetherington overcame cracked sternum to star at the Warriors this season