Jason Hetherington is an Australian former rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. Hetherington played club football for the Gold Coast Seagulls and Canterbury-Bankstown in Australia and for the

London Broncos The London Broncos are a professional rugby league club in London, England. The club competes in the RFL Championship. It was a member of Super League from its inaugural season in 1996 until the end of the 2014 season, when they were relegat ...

in the

Super League The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of wh ...

Background

Hetherington was born in Baralaba, Queensland, 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. 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 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. The team colours are maroon and white, while their namesake and logo is the sea eagle. They compete in Australia's premier rugb ...

in the grand final. In the

1998 NRL season 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

, 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 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. Hetherington also gained selection for

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

in 1998. He also played representative football for Queensland, 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 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 rugby league players Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs players London Broncos players Gold Coast Chargers players Queensland Rugby League State of Origin players Ipswich Jets players Recipients of the Australian Sports Medal Rugby league hookers Rugby league players from Queensland {{Australia-rugbyleague-bio-1970s-stub