EXCLUSIVE: Phil Gould reveals meeting with notorious hothead during 'struggling' period before shock move

Phil Gould has revealed he met with Jack Hetherington last year when he was struggling at Newcastle as the big forward prepares for his Melbourne Storm debut.

Melbourne is now Hetherington's fifth club and appears to be his last chance at NRL level despite his ability.

At 29, Hetherington is now in the latter stages of his career and has landed with the Storm after Nelson Asofa-Solomona's departure.

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Gould worked with Hetherington since trying to recruit him as a junior and eventually had him land at Penrith.

The forward was also at the Bulldogs when Gould arrived there, too.

Hetherington's last club was Newcastle where he spent an inconsistent three years, and Gould lifted the lid on a meeting the two had during his final season with the Knights.

"I went up and saw him halfway through last year, he was struggling a little bit and he was just looking for someone to talk to," he said on Wide World of Sports' Six Tackles with Gus.

"So I took a day off and drove up to Newcastle and sat down and had a coffee with him and just had a chat about life. He's married, he's got two kids now; he's a completely different kid.

"He felt he was trying hard and training hard, and I said, 'well, sometimes it just doesn't come straight away, sometimes you've just got to persevere'.

"Ninety per cent of this game is to keep turning up. On and off the field, just to keep turning up and doing your thing, and suddenly the breaks will come.

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"And he got back into the first grade side, fought back and got his jersey back in there, and he worked hard to do that; that's all him doing that and Newcastle were struggling a little bit at the time and that doesn't help individuals either.

"But all of a sudden you get a lifeline like this to go to the Melbourne Storm. You know, this is his real chance.

"This is absolutely his chance because you know what? He's not going to have to worry about doing anything more than just being Jack Hetherington and doing what Jack Hetherington can do.

"He's been a player without a position. He's been a player without direction for a long time. But he's a wonderful kid. He's a lovely kid."

Gould also said Hetherington's inability to reach his potential is down to no one but himself, and that the 190cm prop would admit that.

In 2024, Hetherington was involved in a fight with Reed Mahoney which led to a sin bin for both of them. Hetherington then had to be separated in the tunnel for pushing Mahoney in a bizarre incident. He was banned for one match.

At the time on 100% Footy, Gould said the forward would've been "playing around".

However, at Melbourne there's no doubt that wouldn't be accepted and Gould believes coach Craig Bellamy can bring out the best in him. Bellamy also spent time at the Raiders when Hetherington's father Brett was there.

"I think he'll appreciate the Melbourne Storm and I think the Melbourne Storm will appreciate him," Gould said.

"I think that's an inspired recruitment decision. Not a lot of clubs would have taken the plunge ... and Melbourne Storm have a history of this, of making really prudent, strategic purchases of players that some clubs might have thought had run their race.

"Jack Hetherington has always been a supreme athlete, an absolute elite athlete. His brain can't keep up with his legs sometimes, and that's that's been his problem throughout his life. I love Jack; I've loved him from the day I first met him.

"... I could tell you a lot of Jack stories, but I'm cheering for him. I thought that was a really inspired recruitment decision by the Melbourne Storm ... he's always been an elite athlete, and Craig Bellamy just has a way of giving them direction and giving them purpose and giving them a role that they can do and Jack won't have to worry too much about strategy or game plans or anything like that. Just go and play."

Melbourne takes on the Eels in round one next week.