William Hopoate

William Hopoate
Personal information
Born (1992-05-09) 9 May 1992
Manly, New South Wales, Australia[1]
Height 186 cm (6 ft 1 in)
Weight 97 kg (15 st 4 lb)
Playing information
Position Fullback, 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 62 15 0 0 60
Total 122 36 0 0 144
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
2017–18 Tonga 7 3 0 0 12
As of 4 March 2018
Source: [2]

William Hopoate, also known as Viliami in Tongan, (born 9 May 1992) is a Tongan international rugby league footballer who plays for the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs in the National Rugby League. A New South Wales State of Origin and New South Wales City representative, he plays at centre, fullback and wing and previously played for the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles and Parramatta Eels. He is the son of former Australian international, John Hopoate.

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.

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[3] 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.[4] In April 2015, he agreed to re-sign with the Eels on a 3-year contract,[5] however due to legal complications, the contract wasn't registered and Hopoate was left a free agent.[6] 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.[7][8]

Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs

On 7 December 2015, Hopoate signed a 2-year contract with the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs starting in 2016.[9] 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 the game being played on Sunday.[10][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.

Representative career

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.

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).[14]

References

  1. 1 2 Media, NRL Digital. "Will Hopoate".
  2. ↑ "William Hopoate - Career Stats & Summary". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 2015-12-07.
  3. ↑ "Hi I'm William Hopoate". Mormon.org.uk. Retrieved 8 May 2017.
  4. ↑ "Will Hopoate signs with Parramatta Eels | NRL". Zero Tackle. 2011-10-04. Retrieved 2015-12-07.
  5. ↑ "Hopoate set to extend stay with Parramatta | NRL". Zero Tackle. 2015-04-18. Retrieved 2015-12-07.
  6. ↑ "Parramatta offer Hopoate 'unders' to stay | NRL". Zero Tackle. Retrieved 2015-12-07.
  7. ↑ Proszenko, Adrian; Hall, Louise (31 March 2016). "Canterbury Bulldogs star Will Hopoate seeking $1.83 million from Parramatta Eels" – via The Sydney Morning Herald.
  8. ↑ "Hopoate's Parramatta battle moves to the field".
  9. ↑ "Bulldogs sign Will Hopoate | NRL". Zero Tackle. 2015-05-27. Retrieved 2015-12-07.
  10. ↑ 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.
  11. ↑ "Bulldogs NRL star Will Hopoate to miss playoff final over his religion".
  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. ↑ "Young star leaving NRL for Mormon mission". The New Zealand Herald. Newstalk ZB. 13 May 2011. Retrieved 3 December 2011.
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