Heavy-hitter Kobe Hetherington is all set to go out with bang as he sets his sights on leaving the Brisbane Broncos a premiership winner.
Back for his second dig as he looks to join dad Jason on the list of father-sons to touch first grade silverware, the 26-year-old middle forward will next year link with Manly and reunite with his former Broncos coach Anthony Seibold.
It has only steeled his determination to make an impact for the maroon and gold one last time with his damaging runs in behind the ruck and a few trademark bone-rattlers to lead the defence when he runs on.
“There’ll be no stone unturned, I’ll go in flying,” Hetherington said.
“I’ll put my best foot forward for this club, this club has given me so much, the least I could do is go out with a bang.”
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If there’s one thing he learnt from a painful defeat in 2023, it was the need for an 80-minute effort, just like the one that secured their berth for the 2025 decider.
It’s a trait that has been manifested through an evolving defensive resolve, peaking at the right time to allow just enough opportunities for the likes of Reece Walsh, Ezra Mam and Adam Reynolds to set up just enough attack to get the job done.
Hetherington said it was all about ‘connection’ and everyone buying in to the philosophies of Michael Maguire and a former Broncos enforcer in assistant coach Ben Te’o.
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"I guess it’s just connection, we keep building that connection," Hetherington said.
"‘Madge’ always talks about that, having good connection and the more games we’ve played the stronger we’ve become as a pack, as a group we’re really connected and you can see it on the field, everyone working hard from the inside, no one’s stopping, everyone keeps moving, it’s just connection.
“(Te’o) has sort of been bringing that steely edge to us and everyone’s buying in. It took us a little while to get used to it at the start of the season, but everyone's bought in now to what Benny and ‘Madge’ is bringing and you can see it on the field, everyone's working for each other.
"And yeah, defending our line is, you know, we practice that every session.
“You’ve seen how Benny used to whack ‘em back in the day, he’s sort of trying to bring that into us, and as I sort of said it’s connection, hitting together, first contact, line speed, he’s bringing that back to the Broncs and I feel like we’ve bought right into it.”
Kobe Hetherington Try
Now they have to deal with the likes of Munster and Hughes calling the shots opposite, but after getting the win when they last met in Round 27, Hetherington knows everyone has the faith in each other required to breach the final frontier and earn premiership glory.
“They’re two quality players, so we’ve really got to be on our game, especially defensively from the inside, putting pressure on them, and I’m sure we will be,” he said.
- Don't miss a minute! Watch the decider on Nine and 9 Now as well as via Sky NZ in New Zealand.
