Chris Heighington admits he was surprised to get the call from Wayne Bennett that ended his six-year exile from the England national team.
Heighington, who was born and raised on NSW’s Central Coast and has spent his whole career in the NRL, last played for England in 2011 under Steve McNamara. The forward has a British passport through his who father emigrated from the UK to Australia as adult, but maintains strong links with the small village he came from. It is named Heighington, and is located between Darlington and Shildon in the north.
The prop got the nod from Bennett to face Samoa in May and then featured in England’s World Cup opening defeat against Australia. He has been named on the bench for Saturday’s clash with Lebanon. But at the age of 35 he thought his days as an international player were over.
The forward on the camp atmosphere and excitement for @RLWC2017 👉
“I probably didn’t expect it [the return] but Wayne gave us a call and we had a good chat, it’s an honour and privilege to do it again,” Heighington said.
“You always want to represent at the highest level, my dad is really proud, you always want to represent you family and do best you can. It's been really good, I got the opportunity to play against Samoa in the mid-season and really enjoyed it. It’s good to be back, back with a great group of people.”
Heighington’s father Tom is battling bowel cancer but is aiming to be in Sydney to see his son play.
“My dad’s been a bit sick, he’s going for a bit of chemo at the moment but going to try his best to get here. He lives on the Central Coast, he tries to get to a few games, hopefully he'll be here.”
Heighington keeps an eye on his father’s hometown in County Durham and in contact with relatives there.
“About 3,000 people live there. A few times got I’ve had the opportunity to go there, which was good. I try to keep in touch, they’ve got a website I get on and got a little soccer team going.”
After making his first-grade debut in 2003, Heighington is nearing the end of his career. He turns 36 in January and is expected to retire at the end of the 2018 season. Winning another NRL grand final last year and now playing in a World Cup has been a dream finish for the forward.
The forward on the camp atmosphere and excitement for @RLWC2017 👉
“I won a Grand Final early in my career at the Wests Tigers and won one last year with the Sharks. Obviously World Cup would be a dream as well, I’m just taking it every week at a time.”
Heighington knows a number of Lebanon’s players well, including Cedars captain Robbie Farah, and is expecting to face passionate opposition come the weekend.
“I watched their game against France and they played pretty well, they’ve got some players with good NRL experience, five or six players who really went well at the weekend. There’s Robbie Farah, Mitchell Moses and Timmy Mannah up front, and Michael Lichaa who really went well at nine off the bench.
“We're in for another hard game, it’s a Test match for England and we’ve got to prepare like we're playing the Aussies. Training been intense, pretty tough to be honest. We’re taking the mindset that we're playing the Aussies again, we’re not going to take it easy and prepare like it's against one of the top teams.”
