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 in the grand final. In the
1998 NRL season, 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 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
Super League he played for the
London Broncos. In 2000, Hetherington was awarded the
Australian Sports Medal for his contribution to Australia's international standing in the sport of rugby league. ==References==