If you want an indication of the confidence among the new breed rising at the Warriors, look no further than rookie hooker Sam Healey.
When the 22-year-old woke up last Saturday morning, all he was thinking about was another appearance for the New South Wales Cup team. Apart from oneinterchange appearance during the Magic Round, he hadn’t been in the first-grade side and was content to bide his time.
But everything changed around 11am on match day, when he saw coach Andrew Webster in the team hotel, who informed him that Wayde Egan was struggling with a hip issue.
“He pulled me aside and said there’s a chance, and I said, Oh, right oh,” Healey tells the Herald. “I didn’t really know.
“Then about 20 minutes later, I looked at Wayde and he didn’t look too good. So, I thought, ‘yeah, I’m probably on here’.
“That was when I came to the realisation I was playing so I had to get my head around it.”
Initially, his mind would have been spinning, given the surreal circumstances. A last-minute NRL starting debut, after not training with the first-grade team all week.
And against the club where he had spent years as a junior and where his father Mitch Healey is revered as a legend, having made 222 appearances for the Sharks (fifth on the all-time list).
“It was a bit weird, to be honest, running out in different colours,” says Healey. “I played a lot at Shark Park in the juniors and stuff for Cronulla.”
But it didn’t show. There is nowhere to hide at hooker but Healey was on song from the start – accurate with his distribution, defending well and making some clever darts from dummy half, belying his inexperience and any nerves. Pre-match chats with Webster and Egan helped to simplify his role – “If they have the confidence in me that’s enough for me” – and his impressive performance added another layer to the memorable 40-10 win, one of the best Warriors displays in recent years.
“It was pretty special,” says Healey. “I’ve grown up watching from the hill at Cronulla, been to who knows how many Sharks games and obviously my old man playing there.”
Healey looks one to watch, part of a cohort of young Warriors turning heads. His progress has justified the move to New Zealand, after he was scouted playing for the Newtown Jets (the Sharks’ feeder team) in the NSW Cup.
“Webby was really positive,” recalled Healey of their first conversation. “He thought I could genuinely be a No 9 in the NRL and that’s all I needed ... someone to believe in me and, have confidence in me.”
Sam Healey in action against the Sharks. Photo / Photosport
Still, the initial move wasn’t easy for the 22-year-old. Not just leaving his hometown club but also moving out of his parent’s house for the first time.
“It was difficult, obviously, first time living out of home and I got on a one-way flight to New Zealand, which was pretty daunting,” says Healey.
“Walking into the [dressing] shed that first day was, it was like nothing I’d ever done before. But I needed to test myself and get out of my comfort zone and I’ve grown a lot from it. So it’s super positive.”
It wasn’t all plain sailing, with getting to know an entirely new group of players and staff and also taking on the challenge of preparing his own meals, with calls home early on to his mother and girlfriend for recipe suggestions and ideas. But Healey is loving life in Auckland, in a flat with middle forward Tanner Stowers-Smith and two other NSW Cup teammates.
“It’s a bit frantic at dinner time when everyone’s cooking their separate meals and in the kitchen,” laughs Healey. “But it’s good fun having people around and I’ve become quite close with those boys.”
The current Warriors set-up is the perfect place to grow and learn, shown by the number of young players stamping their mark, from Leka Halasima and Demitric Vaimaunga to Ali Leiataua and Jacob Laban.
“All the older boys and the coaching staff are giving us the confidence that we can do a job and thrive in this environment,” said Healey. “We’ve got good leaders like Fish [James Fisher-Harris] and Capes [Kurt Capewell], guys that have been there, done it, and can lead the way and say, ‘Boys come with us’.”
Healey also credits Egan for an exponential development of his own game, after observing the former Penrith player at close quarters since pre-season.
“Watching him at training, watching clips and just trying to pick up little things that he does and asking questions here and there. It’s definitely brought my game forward.
“If I look at myself 12 months ago to where I am now, I’m a completely different player and I credit some of that to him and the influence he’s had on me.”
Michael Burgess has been a Sports Journalist for the New Zealand Herald since 2005, covering the Olympics, Fifa World Cups, and America’s Cup campaigns. He is a co-host of the Big League podcast.
