Willie Heta's had a monumental impact on Orange Hawks since linking with the club ahead of the 2017 Group 10 premier league season, a point in time he was more-than-once described as 'the best player not playing in the NRL'.
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That tag was based on the credentials he brought with him to the two blues which, after moving to Australia in 2012, included four premierships, two grand final man-of-the-match medals, Newcastle and Country Firsts jerseys along with a handful of other individual awards.
Three of those titles came in consecutive years when he was pulling the strings for the Albury Thunder and he won those decider MVPS in two of those victories, Heta was best on ground by quite some way in Group Nine's 2012 and 2014 big dances.
It's easier to see how big an influence he had on the Thunder and as a result, despite five-eighth being a hotly-contested position, he was handed the No.6 jersey in the Daily Advertiser's Group Nine Team of the Decade.
In releasing the side last week Daily Advertiser guru Courtney Rees wrote 'his three seasons with the club garnered three premierships and you can't do any better than that'.
The Group Nine Team of the Decade also included former Orange CYMS bookend Mitch Davis, who was also a driving force in the Thunder's early-decade dominance.
Playing in the front-row for the star-studded Albury side, which also included Orange junior Jon Huggett, Davis was instrumental and proved as much by claiming the man-of-the-match medal in the 2013 decider, bookended by Heta's wins.
The Group Nine Team of the Decade also included the likes of former Canberra Raiders hopeful Lou Goodwin and former NRL premiership-winner Daniel Fitzhenry.
The full Group Nine Team of the Decade can be viewed on the Daily Advertiser's website.
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Matt Findlay
Formerly a sports specialist, I'm based at Orange and shift between wide-spread range of subjects here and, often, across the entire Central West region of NSW as well. I have almost a decade of experience in the media and marketing industries both here in Australia and internationally, along with journalism I have experience in content strategy, brand development, and digital and social media. Along the way, I've been fortunate to win a handful of media awards and be nominated for several others too.
Formerly a sports specialist, I'm based at Orange and shift between wide-spread range of subjects here and, often, across the entire Central West region of NSW as well. I have almost a decade of experience in the media and marketing industries both here in Australia and internationally, along with journalism I have experience in content strategy, brand development, and digital and social media. Along the way, I've been fortunate to win a handful of media awards and be nominated for several others too.
