![]() That was a goal of mine that year, to make good metres in every game that I played in.” A couple of years prior to that was the Super League era. “I always knew I could do it during the season after, it was just about actually going out there trying to get my metres up and not be suspended as much. “The previous season I was suspended for eight games because I turned up drunk, so for nine games had to play Reserve Grade.” Did you always know you could achieve such highs? We were leading all game and then for them (Newcastle) to score with just seventy seconds left to play was deflating.” In the 2002 NRL season, you ran for 3976m’s with the ball, the best in the entire competition. ![]() “The worst moment of my whole sporting career was losing that Grand Final. As a parent, you want nothing better for your kids than for their achievements to be one-hundred times better than what yours were.” Thoughts on the 1997 Grand Final? “Will also won one at the club I played at which felt better than when I won it. You can always look back on it with your teammates that you played with and talk about it for years to come.” It’s a feeling that will never leave you and you’ll have it for the rest of your life. “I was lucky enough to win one and it’s unbelievable. Can you describe the feeling to me of what it’s like to achieve something so special? It has helped Tonga immensely.” Even some of the greatest players never win a Premiership. “They’re choosing to play for their heritage which means a lot more to the players and to see them do that is unbelievable. “It’s excellent, especially when you consider the big money some of those players are walking away from in order to represent Tonga.” So, playing for Tonga was a bit more special.” When players such as Will Hopoate, Jason Taumalolo and Andrew Fifita play for Tonga over the likes of Australia and New Zealand, what does that mean? That’s our homeland, that’s our heritage and that’s where we’re from. “But, when I told them I was playing for Tonga, they started crying. When I told my parents I was playing for Australia, they were over the moon.” “My goal as a kid growing up was to play for Australia as I grew up playing Rugby League here. How would you compare representing them to playing for the Kangaroos? The league tried for years to make it known worldwide and they couldn’t do it, but I did.” You were born in Tonga and are incredibly proud of your heritage. “During my suspensions, the NRL should’ve paid me for taking the game global. They didn’t feel violated, I was only probing in there for a split second and that was it.” Players didn’t want it, but I wasn’t hurting them. “The media made it so big and said I was trying to hurt them. With my previous suspensions, it was an easy call for the judiciary to give me such a long ban.” Now moving onto the infamous ‘wedgie’ tackles, did they deserve the heat they copped? It was just a misjudged tackle and it was overkill. “Maybe I went/jumped a little bit higher than I was supposed to, but no player ever goes out there with the intention of trying to take someone’s head off. “There were six or seven exact same tackles during the year, and they didn’t even look at it.” To start off with, what are your thoughts on the ‘Keith Galloway incident’? I was able to talk to the man himself about all of it and more right here. ![]() Safe to say he never backed down from anything. There were also several incidents where Hopoate inserted his finger into several players anuses while attempting tackles. He copped a record 17-game suspension for his actions. In a 2005 match against the Tigers, he struck Keith Galloway on the head with his elbow, immediately knocking him unconscious. ‘Hoppa’ never shied away from making a big hit or a strong tackle and that’s where the hate pours in. He also played in over 200 games of professional Footy and scored over 80 tries in the process, as well as having played for all of City/NSW, Australia, and Tonga. As a member of the Sea Eagles, he featured in three Grand Finals, winning one. His entire playing career he played his way and his style and regardless of whether you respect it or not, it yielded some pretty damn good results. You either love John Hopoate or you despise him, there is simply no in-between.
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