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“Fans Will Love This!” – Andrew Henderson Names His Ultimate Team with Castleford & London Icons
Former Castleford Tigers hooker Andrew Henderson enjoyed a fine playing career which included stints on both sides of the world.
The Torquay-born ex-Scotland international is now serving as York Knights’ head of rugby and is also a respected pundit.
In a regular feature where former players list their Ultimate 13, Henderson tells Love Rugby League about the most talented team-mates he took the field with.
Full-back – Luke Dorn (Castleford Tigers)
Luke was a really skilful player who could create opportunities and was blessed with great speed and agility.
He was a great finisher of tries, but what I enjoyed about playing with Luke was his ability to react.
Whenever you were at dummy-half, you just knew he was always going to be on your shoulder, ready to poach a line break or finish off a try.
Wing – Damien Blanch (Castleford Tigers)
Blanchy was a quality finisher who I played with at Castleford.
I really enjoyed having him as a team-mate and he was a great guy too.
Centre – Michael Shenton (Castleford Tigers)
I played with Shenny for a long time at Cas and he was just a classy operator.
He had the ability to put his wingers away, he ran good lines and he could also finish off a try.
Defensively Shenny was also really solid and made good reads.
Centre – Wes Naiqama (London Broncos)
I played with Wes at London and he was a quality centre as well as being an accomplished goalkicker.
Going forward, he was strong out of yardage and his skillset was incredible too.
He had the ability to beat a man and put his winger away as well.
Winger – Nick Youngquest (Castleford Tigers)
Nick was a totally different style of winger to Blanchy, but equally they both had great kick-returns and were able to get you on the front foot.
Again, a really good team-mate during my time at Cas Tigers.
Stand-off – Luke Brannigan (Balmain Tigers)
I played with Branno down under and he represented Australian Schoolboys as a youngster.
He had a big future ahead of him and unfortunately a couple of injuries knocked him back, but I was lucky to play with him at Balmain.
Luke was one of the smartest footballers I played with because he get a team around the field and had great vision as a playmaker, plus he had a great kicking game short and long.
He was also a solid defender and knew his way to the try-line – had he not got injured I believe he could have achieved a lot more in the game.
Scrum-half – Danny Brough (Castleford Tigers and Scotland)
I enjoyed playing with Broughy because he was just such a competitor on a rugby league field.
I had a lot of respect for players who competed hard and Broughy always wanted to win.
Again, his kicking game was second to none and his ability to place the ball where he wanted to was incredible.
He could break the line too and had a bit of X-Factor about him – he went on to win Man of Steel at Huddersfield Giants in 2013.
Prop – Danny Sculthorpe (Castleford Tigers)
I loved playing with Danny – he was such a great player and was basically a stand-off trapped in a prop forward’s body.
He was unbelievable. I found Danny’s go-forward great, he was a big human with good leg drive but his skillset was second to none.
He had the ability to offload pre-line and post-line and had a superb kicking game too!
Despite his awesome skill, he did all the tough stuff too and it was just a shame how he also suffered a number of injuries unfortunately.
Had he not, who knows what he could have achieved in the game?
Hooker – Ian Henderson (Scotland)
I’ve gone with my brother Ian at nine because, when I played with him for Scotland, I really enjoyed it.
Ian was tough, a true competitor, and he gave 100% every week for his team whether it be Scotland, Bradford, Catalans or during his time in the NRL.
He was a strong defensive player but also had an equally good running game out of dummy-half.
Prop – Danny Nutley (Castleford Tigers)
Danny was a former Queensland State of Origin player and I played with him at Cas.
He just led from the front with his actions and the amount of times he played 80 minutes as a front-rower in Super League was just incredible.
A tough competitor who on average must have made about 20 carries and 45 tackles per game.
Second row – Willie Manu (Castleford Tigers)
I played with Willie at Cas and I’ve gone with him because he was a freak to play with!
He ran great lines, had good footwork, and had the ability to break the line too.
Willie just seemed to have everything in his make-up – just a really good player who added a different dynamic to your team.
Second row – Chris Heighington (Balmain Tigers)
I had the pleasure of playing with Chris at Balmain.
He was totally different to Willie, but I was fortunate enough to play with him before he went into the first-team and won the premiership with the Wests Tigers in 2005.
Heighno was just a quality player – tough with a great work ethic, solid defensively and also ran some really good lines.
He represented England and I grew up with him actually on the Central Coast, so it was great to then go on and play with him at Balmain.
Loose forward – Adrian Vowles (Castleford Tigers)
This was a tough one but I had to go with Vowlesy after playing with him at Cas.
He was Man of Steel in 1999, a former Queensland State of Origin player and a Castleford Tigers legend.
