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After the emotional high of making his NRL debut last week, One New Zealand Warriors rookie Sam Healey admitted he initially struggled with his move to New Zealand.
The son of Sharks great Mitch Healey didn’t just have to adjust to living in another country; it was the first time the 22-year-old Engadine Dragons junior had lived away from home.
“I’ve had to get out of my comfort zone, and I think that’s definitely helped me as a footy player and as a person, but for the first couple of weeks I was a bit rattled,” Healey told NRL.com after his NRL debut at Magic Round.
“I'd been at home my whole life with mum and dad looking after me, so it was a bit of a wake-up call at first.
“There was a lot of FaceTime calls to my girlfriend and my mum, trying to figure out recipes and what goes where, and when to cook things, but I worked it out.”
Healey has had to adapt on the field too, coming on for the last 14 minutes in his NRL debut as the Warriors hung on to a 30-26 lead after the Cowboys had scored three tries in eight minutes.
Not only that, the halfback-come-hooker was thrust into the unfamiliar lock role and made 12 tackles, while almost scoring a try after kicking for himself near the North Queensland line.
While Healey had a large contingent of family and friends in the 49,512 crowd at Suncorp Stadium, coach Andrew Webster wanted to keep his selection under wraps against the Cowboys.
Match: Dragons v Warriors
Round 10 -
home Team
Dragons
13th Position
away Team
Warriors
2nd Position
Venue: WIN Stadium, Wollongong
“I think Webby sort of did me a solid, trying to keep the pressure off me with it being Magic Round and everything, which I'm grateful for, but it was late notice for some people,” Healey said.
Born in Pontefract in England, where his father played for Castleford, Healey is a Cronulla junior but he found being the son of the club’s fifth most capped player to be both a blessing and a burden.
Despite his father being assistant coach of the Sharks’ Jersey Flegg team in which he played, Healey wanted to ensure he was recognised for his own ability and performances.
“I got the starting job at the start of the year and that was my chance to make it my own and do it without dad,” Healey told the Warriors’ One Take podcast.
“I never used to talk to my dad at training, we would just ignore each and I would call him Mitch, so half the boys came up to me at the end of the year and said, 'I didn’t even know he was your dad'.”
Yet Healey is proud of his father’s achievements and credits him for helping him make it to the NRL.
“I know a lot about dad's career,” he said. “I spent a lot of time watching him and a lot of people have told me how he played.
“I think he based a career off just competing, and that’s something he sort of put into me – to work hard and try to compete on everything.
Match: Warriors v Raiders
Round 10 -
home Team
Warriors
1st Position
away Team
Raiders
8th Position
Venue: Collegians Sporting Complex, Wollongong
“He's obviously had a massive impact on my career and my journey so far, and I definitely wouldn’t be here without the time that he spent with me.”
After helping Newtown win last year’s NSW Cup premiership, Healey was approached by Webster with the opportunity to play the interchange dummy half role for the Warriors and he jumped at the chance.
“I could see that there was an opportunity for me, I spoke to Webby and he sort of outlined what the situation would be and he really enticed me,” Healey said.
“He wanted me to come over and work hard and I was happy to do that. He wanted me to earn the jersey, and I feel like I did that with how hard I trained in the pre-season, and now I’ve got my chance.”
