Knights enforcer criticized for ‘stupid’ act of ill-discipline that could have cost his side dear ‘That’s why he’s been to a few clubs’
- Hetherington has become a serial killer
- He accumulates the suspended weeks
- Knights win despite his antics
Knights hard man Jack Hetherington has been slammed for punching Wests Tigers player Will Smith after a career littered with previous fouls and sending offs.
The fiery forward struck the Smith after hitting high in a tackle in Friday night’s NRL clash between Newcastle and the Tigers shortly after the break. He was thrown into sin for lashing out, which could have cost the knights dearly.
While Newcastle won the game 34-18, the game was tied 18-10 at the time. And it wasn’t the first time Hetherington had lashed out like that.
In 61 appearances at four clubs, Hetherington has been sent off once, sent off six times, suspended seven times and sidelined for 18 weeks.
New South Wales coach Brad Fittler said it was a pattern the Knights forward needed to fix quickly.
“That’s why he’s been to a few clubs, a little warm under the collar,” he said.
Referee Peter Gough had no choice but to sin against Newcastle’s volatile striker Jack Hetherington after punching Will Smith during the Knights’ win over the Tigers
Video replays show Smith goading the briefly fused Hetherington to retaliate and he does so with a right hand punch to Smith’s face
Former Australian, NSW and Cronulla enforcer Paul Gallen, now a commentator on Nine and an accomplished boxer, was also frustrated by Hetherington’s short fuse.
On Nine after the game he said: ‘The fact is that everyone knows that nowadays you get sent for 10 minutes.
“I remember when I was playing four or five years ago, if you hit someone with an open hand, it’s like a punch, you’re sent to the sin bin.
“This guy, he’s a good player, I think he’s a really good player. He’s an athletic, big, strong guy, but so frustrating that he does stupid things.
“If you want to hit guys on the head, hit the local gym and spar with someone during the week and take the frustration out of your system.”
Hetherington is a repeat slacker and on June 24 this year in a match against Penrith he was at it again with the same result – spending time in the bin and sinking his side.
On that afternoon, Hetherington was marched for lashing out in a fight with the Panther’s talented Izack Tago.
Hetherington had completed a tackle on Tago before the Panthers center gave his opponent a light shove that the Knights backrower objected to.
Michael Ennis commentated on that match at the time and was scathing for Hetherington.
“That’s bad discipline right there from Hetherington. He got a little clip from Tago in the tackle and just lashed out,” Ennis said.
“It was nothing more than a brush from Izack Tago, but he lashed out at Hetherington.
“He tried to come out to be the enforcer, but he let his emotions get the better of him. That is an expensive affair for the away team tonight.’
On June 24, Hetherington did the same when Penrith’s Izack Tago handcuffed him in a tackle, enraging the short-tempered Hetherington, who punched him and was thrown out.
Newcastle coach Adam O’Brien said ‘it wasn’t a smart decision by Jack’ in the post-match press conference following that incident.
As a Bulldog in 2021, he was charged for the sixth time in 29 NRL matches when he pinned North Queensland’s Valentine Holmes.
Fox’s Cooper Cronk said after Will Smith’s punch, “Completely unnecessary from Jack Hetherington. Whether you agree or not, Jack Hetherington is absolutely not supposed to react like that.’
But Andrew Johns, diehard knights, somehow didn’t think the slap deserved a scapegoat in commentary for Channel Nine.
“They can’t put him in jail… I’ll jump home, all the way home, if he’s thrown in jail for that,” he said on Nine’s coverage.