Henderson gets chance to shine as his brother misses out

RARELY can a player be pleased to see his own brother go down injured.

It is not a natural reaction and certainly does not do much for family relations.

Sheffield Eagles’ Andrew Henderson must have come close to feeling it, though, after younger sibling Ian suffered a knee injury in Scotland’s dramatic World Cup 30-30 draw with Italy.

It meant the ex-Bradford Bulls player is ruled out of tonight’s must-win final Group C/D game with surprise package USA and, subsequently, Andrew – who plays the same position of hooker – finally gets a shot.

He was overlooked for the opening win over Tonga and also that Azzurri clash but the veteran returns for this most vital of contests as Scotland look to secure a win that will keep alive hopes of earning a shock quarter-final versus holders New Zealand.

Henderson senior can see the irony of it all but told the Yorkshire Post: “It is one of those weird ones; Ian’s happy I’m going to feature and he’s wished me the best of luck.

“But he’ll be more focused on getting his knee right. We’re going to need our best players if we do qualify and we need to get him back. If that’s then at my expense, so be it.

“I came into the tournament knowing I’d find it tough as there are two very good, experienced hookers in front of me – him and Benny Fisher.

“I hoped to play the first game but when I didn’t I just wanted to keep spirits up in the camp, help out with the coaching staff where I could and get behind the boys.

“I always think you should keep preparing yourself as if you are playing, though, in case of the worst-case scenario of injuries – that has now happened.

“Hopefully, I can go help us get a win against the USA.”

That will not be the foregone conclusion many people would have expcetd a few weeks ago.

In their first World Cup, huge underdogs USA have caused a real stir with their remarkable exploits so far.

They followed up a pre-tournament win over France – after just one training session together – with a 32-20 win against Cook Islands before knocking Wales out with a stunning 24-16 win in Wrexham.

Cook Islands’ defeat to Tonga on Tuesday night then effectively cemented the Tomahawks as Group D winners and, regardless of this evening’s result, they will face Australia in the last eight.

But Henderson, 34, added: “I don’t think they’ll take their foot off the pedal.

“They came into this tournament with no expectations on them and there’s still no pressure on them.

“What they have achieved – as well as other emerging nations like ourselves and Italy – has made this World Cup come alive.

“I spoke to their coach Terry Matterson, my old boss from Castleford, at that meeting with Prince Charles in London.

“He was as surprised as anyone with how they fared after all the logistical problems they’d faced.

“But of all of a sudden they’ve got some momentum and belief and played some great football.

“We’re going to have to play extremely well to beat them, but it would be phenomenal for Scottish RL if we could reach the last eight too. We’ve progressed already; we didn’t win a game at the 2000 World Cup, won one against Fiji in 2008 and have a win and a draw already here.

“If we can beat the US we give ourselves the chance of playing the Kiwis in the quarters which would be a great achievement – not just for our players and staff but rugby league in general.

“It would be another great story for this World Cup.”

Henderson, a back-to-back Championship Grand Final winner with Sheffield, is their most-capped player having made 19 appearances, contributing four tries since debuting in 2003.

Born in Torquay, his Scottish parents emigrated to Australia when he was young and he grew up in New South Wales but his support of the Bravehearts has always been unwavering.

Scotland, who have thrived on such vocal backing in two games at Workington, switch to Salford tonight knowing exactly what they have to achieve.

Victory will put them ahead of Italy at the top of Group C and then all eyes will be on the Azzurri in their final game against Tonga at Halifax on Sunday.

Henderson said: “If it all goes according to plan against the US, we’ve arranged to meet at our hotel to watch that game when we’ll be cheering on Tonga.

“I set myself the goal a couple of years ago of playing in this World Cup. I’ll have ticked that box but it’d be great to go further still.”

Halifax forward Sam Barlow comes in for Kane Linnett, the North Queensland Cowboys centre who misses out with a rib injury.