Jason Hetherington is an Australian former

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 1990s and 2000s. Hetherington played club football for the

Gold Coast Seagulls The Gold Coast Chargers were a professional rugby league club which played in the New South Wales Rugby League premiership from New South Wales Rugby League season 1988, 1988 to New South Wales Rugby League season 1994, 1994, the Australian R ...

and Canterbury-Bankstown in Australia and for the

London Broncos The London Broncos are a professional rugby league club based in Wimbledon, London, Wimbledon, England. They play their home games at Plough Lane and currently compete in the RFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of British rugby le ...

in the

Super League Super League (also known as the Betfred Super League for sponsorship reasons, and legally Super League Europe Ltd.) is a professional rugby league competition, and the highest level of the British rugby league system, which consists of twelve t ...

Background

Hetherington was born in

Baralaba, Queensland Baralaba is a rural town and suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in the Shire of Banana in central Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Baralaba had a population of 324 people. Geography The Dawson River (Queensland), Daws ...

, Australia.

Playing career

He established himself as a , but he started his career off as a . Hetherington made his first grade debut for the Gold Coast in round 1 1993 against the Western Suburbs at

Campbelltown Stadium Campbelltown Sports Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Leumeah, a suburb in South Western Sydney, Australia, owned by Campbelltown City Council. Formerly known as Orana Park and Campbelltown Sports Ground, it is currently the home ground ...

. Hetherington made 15 appearances in his debut season as the Gold Coast finished last on the table and claimed the wooden spoon. Hetherington then joined Canterbury in 1994. Hetherington played for Canterbury in their 1994 Grand Final loss against the

Canberra Raiders The Canberra Raiders are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the national capital city of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. They have competed in Australasia's elite rugby league competition, the National Rugb ...

. The following year, Hetherington was part of the Canterbury side which won the 1995 premiership defeating

Manly-Warringah The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Sydney's Northern Beaches. They compete in the National Rugby League (NRL). The Manly club debuted in the 1947 New South Wales Rugby Football League seaso ...

in the grand final. In the

1998 NRL season The 1998 NRL season was the 91st season of professional rugby league football in Australia, and the inaugural season of the newly formed National Rugby League (NRL). After the 1997 season, in which the Australian Rugby League and Super League (Au ...

, Hetherington played 27 games as Canterbury finished 9th on the table and qualified for the finals. Canterbury proceeded to make the 1998 NRL Grand Final after winning 4 sudden death elimination matches in a row including the club's famous preliminary final victory over rivals

Parramatta Parramatta (; ) is a suburb (Australia), suburb and major commercial centre in Greater Western Sydney. Parramatta is located approximately west of the Sydney central business district, Sydney CBD, on the banks of the Parramatta River. It is co ...

which is considered to be one of the greatest comebacks of all time. After being 18-2 down with less than 10 minutes remaining, Canterbury scored 3 tries to take the game into extra-time before winning the match 32–20. The following week, he played at hooker for Canterbury in the 1998 NRL grand final loss to the

Brisbane Broncos The Brisbane Broncos are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Red Hill, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in April 1987, the Broncos compete in the National Rugby League (NRL) and play their home games at ...

. Hetherington also gained selection for

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

in 1998. He also played representative football for

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, including one Man of the Match performance in the opening game of the 1999 series. In

he played for the

. In 2000, Hetherington was awarded the

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 ...

for his contribution to Australia's international standing in the sport of rugby league.

References

External links

Player Details at stateoforigin.com.auCanterbury Bulldogs profileBroncos boss blasts AussiesHetherington is April aceLondon Broncos profile
1970 births Living people Australia national rugby league team players Australian expatriate rugby league players in England Australian rugby league players Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs players Gold Coast Chargers players 20th-century Australian sportsmen Ipswich Jets players London Broncos players People from Central Queensland Queensland Rugby League State of Origin players Recipients of the Australian Sports Medal Rugby league hookers Rugby league players from Queensland {{Australia-rugbyleague-bio-1970s-stub