William Hopoate

William Hopoate
Personal information
Nickname Will,[1] Hoppa[2]
Born 9 May 1992
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Height 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Weight 97 kg (15 st 4 lb)
Playing information
Position Fullback, Wing, Centre
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2010–11 Manly-Warringah 22 14 0 0 56
2014- Parramatta Eels 27 6 0 0 24
Total 49 20 0 0 80
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2011–14 City Origin 2 1 0 0 4
2011–14 New South Wales 2 1 0 0 4
Source: RLP

Will Hopoate also known as Viliami in Tonga (born 9 May 1992) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer for the Parramatta Eels of the NRL. A New South Wales State of Origin three-quarter back, he has also represented NSW City. He attended Cromer Campus and represented Australian Schoolboys rugby league team. He is the son of former Australian international, John Hopoate.

Rugby league career

Hopoate 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.

2010-11: Career with Manly

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.

William 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, William 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 where he was denied the opening try but did produce a miracle flick pass that sent Glenn Stewart over the line for a crucial try in the second half.

2014-present: Career with Parramatta

Hopoate then joined the Parramatta Eels from 2014 on a lucrative deal rumored to be worth approximately $800,000 per season.

Representative football

Will is Australian-born and his parents are Tongan. His father predominately represented Tonga, and also played for Australia on two occasions. 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), following in the footsteps of fellow league player Lagi Setu.[3]

References

  1. ↑ AAP (16 June 2011). "Will Hopoate set to miss State of Origin decider". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 25 June 2011.
  2. ↑ 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.
  3. ↑ "Young star leaving NRL for Mormon mission". The New Zealand Herald. Newstalk ZB. 13 May 2011. Retrieved 3 December 2011.

External links