Mitch Healey (born 11 May 1969) is an Australian former professional
rugby league
Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 11 ...
footballer, who played for the
Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks
The Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Cronulla, in the Sutherland Shire, Southern Sydney, New South Wales. They compete in the National Rugby League (NRL), Australasia's premier rugby leag ...
.
Debut
His first grade debut was on Sunday, 23 July 1989 against the
Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs
The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Belmore, a suburb in the Canterbury-Bankstown region of Sydney. They compete in the NRL Telstra Premiership, as well as competitions facilit ...
at
Endeavour Field
Endeavour Field (also known by its commercial name PointsBet Stadium and colloquially as Shark Park during Cronulla Sharks matches) is a rugby league stadium in the southern Sydney suburb of Woolooware, New South Wales, Australia. It is the ...
. He started his début from the bench. Cronulla went on to win the match quite comfortably 25–10.
Playing career
Healey played from 1989-2000 scoring a total of 33 tries in 222 games. Healey kicked a total of seven career field goals, including three against the
North Sydney Bears
The North Sydney Bears is an Australian rugby league football club based in North Sydney, New South Wales. The club competes in the New South Wales Cup, having exited the National Rugby League following the 1999 NRL season after 90 years in t ...
. Healey kicked 139 goals during his time with Cronulla-Sutherland. Over his career, Healey scored a total of 418 points. In his last game of his career with the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks, Healey scored a try against the
Parramatta Eels
The Parramatta Eels are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Sydney suburb of Parramatta that competes in the National Rugby League.
The Parramatta District Rugby League Football Club was formed in 1947, and their ...
. Healey then went on to play in the
Super League with the
Castleford Tigers (
Heritage № 773). Whilst at the
Castleford Tigers he partnered
Danny Orr
Daniel Crawford Orr (born 17 May 1978), is an English rugby league coach and former player. He is an assistant coach for the Salford Red Devils. A Great Britain national rugby league team, Great Britain international representative or , Orr pla ...
in the halves. Healey was injured for most of his 1st season in 2001 but in 2002 and 2003 he captured some form and proved to be a good player for the Castleford Tigers.
Playing and , Healey was one of a new breed of play-makers instrumental in the development of the pin-point high kick to the corner-post and cross-field kick resulting in many tries to his centres and wingers.
Post playing
Healey who had previous coaching experience working as assistant to Souths NRL coaches
Paul Langmack
Paul Langmack (born 10 May 1965) is an Australian former rugby league coach and representative and premiership-winning player. Langmack won three premierships with the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs in the mid-eighties. He later joined the Weste ...
and
Arthur Katinas
Arthur Kitinas (born 29 November 1959) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1970s, and coached in the 2000s. He played in the New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL) competition.
A , Kitinas trialled with ...
in 2004, took over reins of the under-20 Cronulla side from
Aaron Raper
Aaron Raper (born 28 July 1971) is an Australian former rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. His position of choice was although he could also fill other spots in the team.
Raper played in Australia for the Cronulla-Su ...
.
References
1969 births
Living people
Australian rugby league players
Castleford Tigers players
Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks players
People from the Sutherland Shire
Rugby league props
Rugby league players from Sydney
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