William Hopoate

William Hopoate (born 9 May 1992), also known as Viliami in Tongan, also known by the nickname of "Hoppa",[3] is a Tonga international rugby league footballer who plays as a centre, fullback and on the wing for the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs in the NRL.

Will Hopoate
Personal information
Full nameWilliam Hopoate
Born (1992-05-09) 9 May 1992
Manly, New South Wales, Australia[1]
Height186 cm (6 ft 1 in)
Weight98 kg (15 st 6 lb)
Playing information
PositionFullback, Centre, Wing
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2010–11 Manly Sea Eagles 22 14 0 0 56
2014–15 Parramatta Eels 38 7 0 0 28
2016– Canterbury Bulldogs 96 23 0 0 92
Total 156 44 0 0 176
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2011–14 NSW City Origin 2 1 0 0 4
2011–15 New South Wales 5 1 0 0 4
2017– Tonga 9 3 0 0 12
As of 3 September 2020
Source: [2]

He played for the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles and Parramatta Eels in the National Rugby League. Hopoate has also played for New South Wales City and New South Wales in the State of Origin series.

Early life

Hopoate was born in Manly, New South Wales, Australia.[1] Hopoate attended Cromer Campus and represented Australian Schoolboys rugby league team. He is of Tongan descent.

He is the son of former Australian international, John Hopoate.

Club career

Manly Warringah Sea Eagles

He joined Manly's squads in 2009 at the age of 16 and played the entire year in the Sea Eagles Toyota Cup. He primarily played at fullback but also played on the wing and in the centres. Despite a season-ending injury to Manly 1st-grade fullback Brett Stewart in Round 1 of the 2010 NRL season, Hopoate had to wait until Round 13 to make his debut as coach Des Hasler preferred to use Ben Farrar in the custodian role.

Hopoate is the son of former Manly player John Hopoate, though other than his physical size, speed, strength and general play, he has shown none of the "bad boy" habits which saw his father often on the sidelines through suspension. Hopoate also represented the Australian Schoolboys team.

In Round 3 of the 2011 NRL season, Hopoate scored his first ever double against the Newcastle Knights at Brookvale Oval. Hopoate was part of the Manly side that defeated the New Zealand Warriors in the 2011 NRL Grand Final[4] where he was denied the opening try but did produce a flick pass that sent Glenn Stewart over the line for a crucial try in the second half.

Parramatta Eels

In October 2011, Hopoate signed a 2-year contract with the Parramatta Eels starting in 2014, after his Mormon mission ended.[5] In April 2015, he agreed to re-sign with the Eels on a 3-year contract,[6] however due to legal complications, the contract wasn't registered and Hopoate was left a free agent.[7] In 2016, Hopoate took The Parramatta Eels to court and was seeking $1.83 million in damages. On 29 October 2016, both parties came to an agreement of a $400,000 settlement.[8][9]

Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs

On 7 December 2015, Hopoate signed a 2-year contract with the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs starting in 2016.[10] In his first season with Canterbury, Hopoate announced that he would not be playing for the club on Sundays due to his religious faith. Hopoate even went as far to say that he would not play for Canterbury in the grand final if the club was to make it that far as the final is on a Sunday. Hopoate missed Canterbury's qualifying final against Penrith due to the game being played on Sunday.[11][12]

On 14 May 2017, Hopoate reversed his decision and declared that he would be playing Sunday games again for Canterbury.[13] On 1 June 2017, Hopoate re-signed with the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs for a further three years until 2020. On 27 November 2019, Hopoate signed a two-year contract extension to remain at Canterbury until the end of the 2021 season.[14]

Hopoate made a total of 13 appearances for Canterbury in the 2020 NRL season. The club finished in 15th place on the table, only avoiding the Wooden Spoon by for and against.[15]

Representative career

NSW

On 5 June 2011 Hopoate was selected to play State of Origin for New South Wales in Game 2 against Queensland at ANZ Stadium. He is the second youngest player behind Brad Fittler ever selected to play for NSW and he scored a try on debut helping NSW level the 3 game series at one all with an 18–8 win.

Tonga

In 2017 Hopoate elected to represent the nation of his ancestral heritage, Tonga. He played fullback in every game of their stunning charge to the 2017 Rugby League World Cup semi-finals. He was a tryscorer in their shock win over New Zealand in the pool stage of the tournament.[16]

He was named at fullback again for the historic first-ever Test match between Tonga and the Australian Kangaroos on 20 October 2018, played in front of a sold-out crowd at Mount Smart Stadium, Auckland.[17]

Personal life

Outside of rugby league, the Hopoate family is one with strong religious beliefs. As such Hopoate forsook his early league career and spent 2012 and 2013 serving a two-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church).[18]

References
  1. Media, NRL Digital. "Will Hopoate".
  2. "William Hopoate - Career Stats & Summary". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 7 December 2015.
  3. Lane, Daniel (22 June 2011). "Battle of Will: clubs all want a piece of Hoppa, says agent". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 25 June 2011.
  4. "Hi I'm William Hopoate". Mormon.org.uk. Retrieved 8 May 2017.
  5. "Will Hopoate signs with Parramatta Eels | NRL". Zero Tackle. 4 October 2011. Retrieved 7 December 2015.
  6. "Hopoate set to extend stay with Parramatta | NRL". Zero Tackle. 18 April 2015. Retrieved 7 December 2015.
  7. "Parramatta offer Hopoate 'unders' to stay | NRL". Zero Tackle. Retrieved 7 December 2015.
  8. Proszenko, Adrian; Hall, Louise (31 March 2016). "Canterbury Bulldogs star Will Hopoate seeking $1.83 million from Parramatta Eels" – via The Sydney Morning Herald.
  9. "Hopoate's Parramatta battle moves to the field".
  10. "Bulldogs sign Will Hopoate | NRL". Zero Tackle. 27 May 2015. Retrieved 7 December 2015.
  11. Webster, Andrew (5 September 2016). "Will Hopoate's absence for the Canterbury Bulldogs on Sundays isn't about religion – it's about football" – via The Sydney Morning Herald.
  12. "Hopoate set to choose God over grand final". 30 March 2016.
  13. "Will Hopoate agrees to play Sundays for Bulldogs". 15 May 2017.
  14. "Bulldogs make seventh re-signing, Storm gun locked in". Fox Sports.
  15. "Dogs confirm EIGHT-man clean-out in first glimpse of Barrett era". www.foxsports.com.au.
  16. https://www.nrl.com/news/2017/11/11/tonga-stun-new-zealand-to-top-pool-b/
  17. https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/sport/369091/kangaroos-withstand-spirited-tongan-challenge
  18. "Young star leaving NRL for a mission for the church of Jesus of latter day saints". The New Zealand Herald. Newstalk ZB. 13 May 2011. Retrieved 3 December 2011.
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