Heighington, man without a country

[Danos]

Well, he was left out of the Australian training squad, for what reason I have no idea, and now he's been rubbed out of the English team as well:

McNamara has revealed that former Wigan back rower Mark Flanagan, 23, is in contention for a call-up after making a big impression in his first season in Australia's NRL where he has made 21 appearances for Wests Tigers.
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Flanagan will be hoping to line up alongside his Tigers team-mate Gareth Ellis, the former Wakefield and Leeds player, as well as South Sydney prop Sam Burgess and Melbourne full-back or stand-off Gareth Widdop.
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**But McNamara has avoided a potential point of controversy by ruling out a third Wests Tigers player, second rower Chris Heighington, who had put himself forward after qualifying through his father Tom who lived in England until his 20s.**
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http://www.sportinglife.com/rugbyleague/news/story_get.cgi?STORY_NAME=rleague/10/10/01/RUGBYL_England_Lynch.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Has he got any blood relatives from PNG??

 

[steve-o]

mcnamara doesnt explain why he ruled him out. seems strange

i guess rhino looks a bit like stanley gene? lol

 

[Newy_Tiger]

Wow thats odd, gotta feel for hino…

 

[LukeH]

This guy is getting screwed over big time. Rhino is the most underrated forward going around, and when you see these other muppets get picked ahead of him there's something wrong.

 

[Gobbs]

Poor bastard! You'd think the Poms would be jumping at the chance to get Heighno on board. Idiots!!

 

[westTAHger]

this situation is very similar to the one a couple of seasons ago, when Nathan Merritt expressed his opinion/concerns as to why he was not picked for any rep teams.
Merritt has not played any type of rep footy since.
I am thinking the same maybe happening to Chris Hino.
the selectors could have noses out of joint, especially when Hino says he will go play for england.
they could be thinking, fine go play for them, as we ain't gonna pick you now at all.

 

[Guest]

It's a real shame for Heighno to be overlooked by both countries. Personally I don't think he would look out of place in either side.

 

[Tiger_Watto]

England have a pretty handy Forward Pack, so this doesnt suprise me. But would you really pick Flanagan over Chris? That is a bit weird??!!!

 

[Lukic]

Damn. You'd think Hino would get a run, in either train-on squad. He's not good enough for the top 17 of either imo, but definitely squad calibre. He's a guy that if you have an injury, will always put in. He'll make you a good 120m each game off 20 runs and always keep the defence working.

 

[hadds75]

Dont blame England for not picking Heighno. I mean hes not exactly young, and while obviously he would always play with his heart, its a bit obvious that heighnos alliance is with australians and hes just doing it to get a rep jersey as opposed too loving England.

And I mean this nicely ,as its only Heighno, a no frills type player im sure theyd probably pass. Not that I know of the players but im sure Heighno would an in and out of the squad type player probably. Im sure if it was a Thurston or a hunt etc then theyd jump on it.

 

[Balmain_Tiger]

Dont blame England for not picking Heighno. I mean hes not exactly young, and while obviously he would always play with his heart, its a bit obvious that heighnos alliance is with australians and hes just doing it to get a rep jersey as opposed too loving England.

And I mean this nicely ,as its only Heighno, a no frills type player im sure theyd probably pass. Not that I know of the players but im sure Heighno would an in and out of the squad type player probably. Im sure if it was a Thurston or a hunt etc then theyd jump on it.

he is 26…he has 6 years minimum of football ahead of him for a forward.

 

[Tigerdave]

that's a shame really, would have thought they'd have picked him up

 

[Paris_Cobbs]

I'd say it's probably more about not putting noses out of joint in England. For Heino to be selected for England, someone has to miss out, surely the squad number is finite. You can imagine the arguments - why pick a guy who is really an Australian and give him the international experience which he then takes back to the Wests Tigers when you can pick a young English player who will learn from the experience and take it back to the English League.

Having said that - do they know what they are missing?

 

[MacDougall]

Dont blame England for not picking Heighno. I mean hes not exactly young, and while obviously he would always play with his heart, its a bit obvious that heighnos alliance is with australians and hes just doing it to get a rep jersey as opposed too loving England.

And I mean this nicely ,as its only Heighno, a no frills type player im sure theyd probably pass. Not that I know of the players but im sure Heighno would an in and out of the squad type player probably. Im sure if it was a Thurston or a hunt etc then theyd jump on it.

he is 26…he has 6 years minimum of football ahead of him for a forward.

No. He is 29 in January.

 

[Geo]

Heighington is Australian…What Pom would catch a boat, bus and taxi through a bush fire just to get to training when you haven't even got a contract yet....

If NSW finally want to break the Queenslanders strangle hold on the trophy then they need to pick him.....

The Poms can get knotted..

 

[hadds75]

If NSW finally want to break the Queenslanders strangle hold on the trophy then they need to pick him…..

The Poms can get knotted..

Dont get me wrong I love Heighno, but one area weve competed with QLD over the years is in the backrow. Its the 1-10 that they are CLEARLY better than us. I think I see alot of Hindmarsh in Heighno, just someone who does everything you want, without the huge metres or impact.

If theres one criticism I have of Heighno is his obsession to run at the markers.

 

[PYMBLEPETE]

I wonder if it is not simply a matter of lack of communication by Chris that he is available for selection by the Poms.

 

[Tiger_Watto]

If NSW finally want to break the Queenslanders strangle hold on the trophy then they need to pick him…..

The Poms can get knotted..

Dont get me wrong I love Heighno, but one area weve competed with QLD over the years is in the backrow. Its the 1-10 that they are CLEARLY better than us. I think I see alot of Hindmarsh in Heighno, just someone who does everything you want, without the huge metres or impact.

If theres one criticism I have of Heighno is his obsession to run at the markers.

True, but if I was a NSW Selector, Chris Heighington or Mark Minichello would be in my starting 13\. They are different to the Gallen's and different again to the Creagh style players, but essential to competing for 80 minutes…

Both Heighno and Mini would have 10 games by now if they were Queenslanders!!!

 

[alien]

This is strange. I thought the poms would have selected him in the squad for sure.

 

[hadds75]

Yeah I hope weve seen the end of Creagh for a while, although a premiership probably puts him as another certainty.

Bird, Gallen and Watmough are the first 3 backrowers picked, and the best three backrowers NSW have. Luke Lewis is the next on the cards and with LOD gone, theres probably one back row spot up for grabs between Creagh, Heighno, Minichello, Waterhouse, and even I geuss Hindmarsh who comes up once in a while. But I think if you look at it like that honestly, and maybe put the orange and black glasses off, i think if your honest you can see why Heighno hasnt been picked to play for NSW yet.