“It’s just about going out there and doing my job the best I can, I feel like if I do that and everyone does that we’ll be right. I’m not even thinking about next year to be honest, I’m just thinking about this grand final and how much I want to win.”
Hetherington – who from 2026 will contest with Manly skipper Jake Trbojevic for the No.13 jersey he covets – had a window to make himself the Broncos’ go-to lock, when coach Michael Maguire gave him his shot while moving Carrigan to the front row.
But after Brisbane’s round 13 humbling – ironically against the Sea Eagles – ‘Madge’ pulled the trigger, moving his State of Origin champion back to his preferred position, and Hetherington to his customary role off the bench.
Since that shift, the Broncos have lost just two of 14 games en route to Sunday’s decisive clash with the Melbourne Storm – including their preliminary final triumph of the Panthers at the death.
While a theme for the Broncos since their gut-wrenching defeat to Penrith two years ago has been to shut down talk of redemption, Hetherington admits the loss still burns.
“It hurt, it still hurts us today,” he said, “[but] we know how it feels to lose the grand final.”
But this is a different breed of Broncos, Hetherington stressed, crediting assistant coach and former Maroons enforcer Ben Te’o for instilling a hard edge in the club’s defence, which went missing in last year’s free fall down the ladder.
2025 NRL grand final team lists
Brisbane Broncos: 1. Reece Walsh; 2. Josiah Karapani; 3. Kotoni Staggs; 4. Gehamat Shibasaki; 5. Deine Mariner; 6. Ben Hunt; 7. Adam Reynolds; 8. Corey Jensen; 9. Cory Paix; 10. Payne Haas; 11. Brendan Piakura; 12. Jordan Riki; 13. Pat Carrigan; 14. Ezra Mam; 15. Kobe Hetherington; 16. Xavier Willison; 17. Tyson Smoothy; 18. Jesse Arthars; 19. Jack Gosiewski; 20. Ben Talty; 21. Selwyn Cobbo; 22. Jock Madden
Melbourne Storm: 1. Ryan Papenhuyzen; 2. Will Warbrick; 3. Jack Howarth; 4. Nick Meaney; 5. Xavier Coates; 6. Cameron Munster; 7. Jahrome Hughes; 8. Stefano Utoikamanu; 9. Harry Grant; 10. Josh King; 11. Shawn Blore; 12. Eliesa Katoa; 13. Trent Loiero; 14. Tyran Wishart; 15. Ativalu Lisati; 16. Tui Kamikamica; 167. Alec MacDonald; 18. Grant Anderson; 19. Bronson Garlick; 20. Joe Chan; 21. Jonah Pezet; 22. Sualauvi Faalogo
“You’ve seen how Benny used to whack them back in the day, he’s trying to bring that into us,” Hetherington said.
“That connection, hitting together and that first contact with line speed – he’s bringing all of that back to the Broncs.”
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That change will need to come to the fore once again come Sunday afternoon if Hetherington is to follow his dad – who tasted grand final success once from three attempts with the Bulldogs – into premiership folklore.
“I was just talking about it [Sunday] night, it’ll be [five] grand finals between us, and he’s won one, so I’ve got to get one back on him,” Hetherington laughed.
“It’s pretty special, and it was good to have dad there for that win [against Penrith], and it’ll be really good to have him at the grand final too.”
