Andrew Heffernan (rugby league)

Andrew Heffernan

Personal information
Full name	Andrew Heffernan
Born	(1995-01-24) 24 January 1995 (age 27) Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia
Height	182 cm (6 ft 0 in)
Weight	95 kg (14 st 13 lb)
Playing information
Position	Centre, Wing, Fullback
Club Years Team Pld T G FG P 2017–18 Hull Kingston Rovers 31 20 0 0 80
Source: [1] [2] As of 1 June 2019

Andrew Heffernan (born 24 January 1995) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who most recently played as a centre for Hull Kingston Rovers in the Super League. ^{[3] [4]}

Background

Heffernan was born in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia. He played first-grade rugby league as a 17-year-old, with Group Nine Club Southcity in 2012. ^[5]

Senior career

Canberra Raiders

Heffernan was in the Canberra Raiders' system and played in the under-20's competition. ^{[6] [5] [3]}

In 2014, he was named in Canberra's 2014 NRL Auckland Nines squad. ^{[7] [8] [5]} He scored a try against the New Zealand Warriors on the inaugural day of the tournament. ^[9] He played for the Canberra Raiders side against the Melbourne Storm in a trial game in 2014. ^{[5] [10]}

2016

At the end of the 2015 season, Heffernan left Canberra to join Penrith. ^[11] He was named in the Panthers' summer training squad and secured a spot in their 2016 NRL squad. ^[12]

He played for Penrith in the Intrust Super Premiership. ^[6]

Heffernan playing for the Panthers during his time at the club

2017

Heffernan joined Hull Kingston Rovers from Penrith ahead of the 2017 season. ^[3]

In February 2017, Heffernan made his professional début in England for Hull Kingston Rovers, scoring two tries in a 54-24 victory over the Bradford Bulls, on the opening day of the 2017 Championship season at Craven Park. ^{[13] [14]} He repeated this feat at the 2017 Summer Bash, by scoring twice in Hull Kingston Rovers 20-19 victory over Bradford. He was one of Tim Sheens' standout signings throughout the regular season, churning out some impressive displays in both attack and defence. This included a total of 17 tries in 20 games, which averages out to 0.85 tries per-game. Heffernan finished his début professional campaign with a total of 18 tries in 24 games, working out at an average of 0.75 tries per-game. He was a vital-part both offensively and defensively in helping Hull Kingston Rovers earn promotion back to the Super League, at their first attempt of asking following relegation the season prior.

2018

In the 2018 Super League season, the 23-year-old centre suffered multiple concussion injuries and he was stood-down for the remainder of the year on medical advice. Heffernan last featured on 7 April 2018, when scoring in a 31-12 home victory over the Widnes Vikings. He had just seven appearances to his name before his campaign was cut-short. In light of Heffernan's situation, Hull Kingston Rovers Head Coach Tim Sheens gave his opinion on the matter.

“It's not a cruciate ligament injury for example and he'll be back in an x-amount of weeks. It's an injury which is really starting to surface a lot over the last few years.

“To consider when a player can and can't play with these types of injuries is out of our hands. It is neurosurgeons which make those decisions.

“We have had him go down to London to see specialists and have scans. The specialist said, in three-months time we'll talk again.”

Heffernan was released from his contract at Hull Kingston Rovers on 22 August 2018, due to his long-standing concussion injury that he sustained earlier during the 2018 Super League season. This was at the player's own request, so he could return to Australia for further recuperation and treatment.

Representative career

2017

Heffernan is eligible to represent Malta though his Maltese Heritage. ^{[8] [10] [15]}

He was unable to represent Malta in the 2017 Rugby League World Cup Qualifiers after he was ruled out for the season following surgery on his shoulder. ^[16]

Outside rugby league

2018

It was revealed on 12 September 2018, that Heffernan had found a new avenue of interest by becoming rugby league club manager at Muddy Boot Sports, back home in his native Australia. ^[17] The appointment came after Heffernan was forced to take an extended break from rugby league as a player, following multiple concussion injuries that he sustained during the 2018 Super League season whilst he was playing at Hull Kingston Rovers.

References

1. loverugbyleague
2. Rugby League Project
3. "Hull KR sign Jamie Ellis on loan from Huddersfield and Andrew Heffernan from Penrith Panthers". Sky Sports. 10 November 2016. Retrieved 8 February 2017.
4. "KR sign Abdull and Heffernan". Rugby League. 11 November 2016. Retrieved 9 February 2017.
5. "Heffernan walking in Daley's NRL footsteps". Daily Advertiser. 3 February 2014. Retrieved 9 February 2017.
6. "Hull KR snap up Australian hotshot Andrew Heffernan". Hull Daily Mail. 10 November 2016. Archived from the original on 11 November 2016. Retrieved 8 February 2017.
7. "Auckland Nines Ultimate Guide - pools, rules and team lists as 16 teams vie for over $2 million". Fox Sports. 16 February 2014. Retrieved 9 February 2017.
8. "GARY HILI NAMED GOZO SPORTSPERSON OF THE YEAR". RLEF. 5 February 2014. Retrieved 9 February 2017.^{[ permanent dead link ]}
9. "Recap: NRL Auckland Nines - Day One". Stuff. 15 February 2014. Retrieved 9 February 2017.
10. "Malta to face Greece and the Czech Republic". Times of Malta. 3 March 2014. Retrieved 9 February 2017.
11. "Meet the Recruits: Andrew Heffernan". Penrith Panthers. 16 November 2015. Retrieved 9 February 2017.
12. "NRLSCTalk 2016 Mega Guide". NRL Super Coach Talk. 24 January 2016. Retrieved 9 February 2017.
13. "Bradford beaten by Rovers". Sportinglife. 5 February 2017. Retrieved 8 February 2017.
14. "Hull KR 54 Bradford Bulls 24: Rovers deliver fitting tribute to club legend Colin Hutton". Yorkshire Post. 5 February 2017. Retrieved 9 February 2017.
15. "Malta to play Lebanon in Sydney". Love Rugby League. 26 March 2015. Retrieved 9 February 2017.
16. "RLIF ANNOUNCES 2017 WORLD CUP PATH FOR MALTA". Malta Sport. Archived from the original on 11 February 2017. Retrieved 9 February 2017.
17. "Muddy Boot Sports sign Heffernan". 12 September 2018.

External links

• Hull Kingston Rovers profile
• NRL profile