Heighington ready for Tigers return

26 May 2012, 9:31 am   -   Source: AAP

Wests Tigers back-rower Chris Heighington makes his NRL return from injury against North Queensland on Sunday.

Wests Tigers back-rower Chris Heighington has been a bit nervous this week but it's had nothing to do with him making his return from injury against North Queensland on Sunday.

Heighington lines up against the Cowboys at Campbelltown in his first appearance since he broke his hand in the round six loss to Brisbane early last month.

Instead of being concerned about his comeback this week, Heighington was more worried about his Tigers captain and friend Robbie Farah, who made a terrific return to State of Origin for NSW on Wednesday night.

Heighington, who was tired of being overlooked by NSW selectors, ditched any chance of playing Origin when he made his debut for England last year.

But rather than harbour any bitterness towards NSW, Heighington was desperate to see his mate steer the Blues to victory.

"I was nervous going into the game," Heighington said.

"I know how much it means for Robbie and to get that chance again and to perform like he did ... I'm really proud of him. Hopefully he brings that form back to club level again."

Despite his lay off, Heighington feels anything but underdone going into the Cowboys clash.

The Tigers sit just inside the top eight and are shooting for five-straight wins against the inform Cowboys who are chasing four consecutive victories and consolidate a place in the top four.

"It's been six long weeks but I've been able to do a lot of running ... they've been flogging me and it's been like a mini pre-season for me and I'm really looking forward to Sunday," he said.

The Tigers meet a Cowboys side who are vulnerable with Johnathan Thurston, Matthew Scott, James Tamou and Brent Tate all backing up from Origin.

Tigers centre Chris Lawrence trained this week and is expected to play after being forced off the ground with a hamstring tear in the win over the Warriors last week.

Tigers coach Tim Sheens has called on his side to be more consistent for 80 minutes on Sunday.

"We're in and out of games in patches," Sheens said.

"We need to start a little better than we did last week and the week before ... both sides (Gold Coast and the Warriors) got a lead on us; so we need to be better on than that ... we can't be chasing down 10 and 14 points at halftime."

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