Hendersons will all be there as season sprints towards finale with family ties

Three brothers have taken a long and winding road from Torquay via Sydney to play in Britain, writes Dave Hadfield

At St Helens tonight, the 22-year-old Ian Henderson will try to steer Bradford into the Super League Grand Final. At Widnes on Sunday, Andy Henderson, four years his senior, will be a key man as Castleford strive to regain their Super League status by beating Whitehaven in the National League One Grand Final.

It is a relatively quiet weekend for the 24-year-old Kevin, who has signed for Wakefield for next season, but the Henderson clan probably has enough on its plate. It is a family saga that starts in the unlikely setting of Torquay, where the three brothers were born.

Ian recalls: "The family moved to Australia when I was four, so I've only ever had vague memories of the place. In fact, when I went back it wasn't the way I remembered it at all."

In Sydney's western suburbs the Henderson brothers discovered rugby league and all shone at it. Although their father is Scottish - enabling them all to qualify to play for that country - "he soon got right into the league", Ian says.

Andy was the first to blaze the trail by bringing what he had learned in Sydney back to Britain. "I played for two seasons with Barrow and Widnes were looking to sign me, but the deal fell through," he says.

He went home to play a season with Wests Tigers in Sydney, but came back to try to help Castleford back into Super League. Playing at hooker and scrum-half, he has been a pivotal figure.

Meanwhile, Kevin, a centre or second-rower with Newcastle, had signed for Leigh, where injuries ruined his chances, and Ian was not far behind. Bradford had already tried to sign him two years earlier when he was with the Sydney Roosters.

"We had a tip from Australia, from a friend of mine, that this kid is British, born in Torquay, and he's a goer - and that is the way he has turned out," says the Bradford coach, Brian Noble.

This time, having slipped to third in line for the hooking role at his new club, Parramatta, Ian was ready to join the Henderson exodus. "Both my brothers were already here, so it couldn't have been easier."

So Ian settled into Andy's house in Castleford and into Bradford's front-row, where his form has been so good that many have questioned the Bulls' intention to recruit Terry Newton from Wigan. Not that the youngest Henderson is fazed by the prospect of competing for his position. "Clubs are always going to sign hookers, there's always going to be competition."

On recent showings, most Bradford fans would be more than happy to stick with Henderson, whose power from dummy half has been a revelation since his arrival. Ian says that he is a different style of hooker from Andy. "He's more of a crafty, half-back type of hooker; I just use my size."

Tonight, he is up against another who might say that of his approach, Saints' Keiron Cunningham. As one who has hooked in Australia's National Rugby League, Ian is not as convinced as some that the Great Britain man would be able to adapt successfully to that competition. "He could go all right in the NRL, but they might think that he's a bit slow and a bit big, because there are a lot of smaller hookers out there."

Brother Andy falls into that category, which has contributed to him taking a frequent battering in Castleford's colours this season. "People don't realise how tough this division is," he says. "It's more physical than Super League and it's not as strictly refereed."

All the more reason, then, for wanting to get out of it. With all due respect to his brother's unfinished business at Knowsley Road, Andy believes that his match this weekend is the more important. "I think there is more pressure on me, because this one game means so much to the fans and the club. The expectation was that we would go back up and, if we don't, it's a bigger disaster than relegation. If we do go up, it will be fantastic for me. I'd be very proud to be playing in Super League with my brothers there as well."

There are not many Scottish families from Torquay who can claim that, but the gathering of clan Henderson in one competition is a distinct possibility.