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http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/ne...a-fine-young-man/story-e6frezz0-1226609535279
Former NRL star Will Hopoate's Mormon mission the latest step in the life of a fine young man
Jordan Baker
The Sunday Telegraph
March 31, 2013 12:00AM
PERHAPS it was the hand of God, or even a minor miracle, that led John Hopoate -- the man who became one of the most famous bad boys in the history of rugby league when he was caught poking his football opponents in the bottom -- to beget an exemplary son.
Ever since he was born, William Hopoate, 20, has been exceedingly good. As a baby, he only cried once a day. As a little boy, he sat quietly in his room, reading the Bible.
He never fidgeted in church. He did everything his parents asked. He fed, bathed and changed his nine little brothers and sisters.
Even his mother Brenda admits William was so well behaved, she occasionally thought it was weird.
Fellow members of Sydney's Mormon congregation watched young William grow up and knew what a fine young man he was, but even they were surprised when, at age 19, he turned down a $1.8 million football contract to spend two years as a Mormon missionary. The only people he didn't surprise were his parents.
"I knew he would do that," says Brenda. "He was a child that loved the Lord."
The talented youngster's time out was a massive loss for the team he left, Manly, and a seeming eternity for the team he's due to join next year, Parramatta, but his choice of faith over cash has been a public relations coup for both the Mormon Church and rugby league, which have both, for different reasons, had their share of sceptics.
But as everyone from the Mormon leaders to William's coaches rave about his impeccable behaviour and extraordinary discipline, there's an unspoken question hanging in the air; just how did the apple fall so far from the tree?
It's 2pm in sweltering Brisbane, and Elder Hopoate and partner Elder Caby are knocking on the door of a house on the city's outskirts. Usually their doorknocks are unsolicited, but today 16-year-old Erehi Ngakuru is waiting for a visit to check on his progress since his baptism in October.
Usually, Mormon children are baptised at eight years, but Ngakuru is a relatively recent signing to the church, only embracing it since moving from New Zealand to live with his devout grandparents.
To his grandparents' joy, his interest was kindled after he befriended a group of Mormon boys at his new school. Every day, they attend a 6am Bible class together.
Today, Elder Hopoate and Ngakuru greet each other in the grunting language of teenage boys. But as soon as the lesson begins, both become impressively articulate. Hopoate and Caby take turns in asking Ngakuru questions and critiquing his answers, while he sits on a chair in the middle of the living room pondering the purpose of the prophet.
"Something we always love to share is about God," begins Hopoate. "Who is God to you?"
"To me God is my Father in heaven, he's also someone who helps me through hard times that I have," says Ngakuru.
They move on to Christ and then to Joseph Smith, the American who founded the Mormon faith in the early 1800s and whose followers believe was a prophet chosen to restore the church.
"I know that God lives," says Hopoate. "I know that Joseph Smith was born to be a prophet of God. I know that vision (of the angel Moroni, whom Mormons believe revealed the location of some golden plates preserving the hitherto unknown Christian history of the native Americans) it did happen."
Hopoate is more than a year into his two-year mission.
He spent much of the first year on the streets of Brisbane knocking on doors and inviting strangers outside shopping centres to find out more about Smith's revelations.
Some were rude; some were awkwardly polite; some were more interested in talking about football. Hopoate estimates 20 out of the hundreds they approached every week took up their offer.
Still, he didn't find the work disheartening.
"It's wonderful," Hopoate says brightly. "We love it. It's an opportunity to meet people from different walks of life, you get to understand other people's beliefs and get to see the views other people have. We get to make friendships and -- most importantly -- get to share the great news we came to share about Jesus Christ."
Mormons are avid proselytisers, and Hopoate's partner Elder Caby is one of the church's success stories. The Frenchman was 23 and working at an office in Paris, where some of his colleagues were Mormons.
They had lots of children, which in France is unusual, so Caby (whose first name was not disclosed, as it is replaced with Elder for his two-year mission) asked why.
They told him about their religion, and, now, three years later, he is nearing the end of his Mormon missionary stint in Australia.
It's a lifestyle that requires discipline: the missionaries wake at 6.30 and exercise (Parramatta has given Hopoate a training schedule to ensure he stays in shape), then study for two hours after breakfast. From 10am until 9pm, they either knock on doors, teach, or do community service. They carry a diary in the pocket of their crisp white shirt, detailing each appointment of the day in tiny, neat handwriting.
Contact with their families is limited to one email a week and a phone call on Mother's Day and Christmas Day to ensure the young men -- and the majority are men -- can focus on their work.
When Elder Hopoate decided to embark on his mission, he could have been sent anywhere in the world.
All applications are sent to church headquarters in Salt Lake City, where a senior official decides the young man's fate.
The missionary pays his own way, although the church -- wealthy from 10 per cent tithes on members' salaries -- owns apartments for them to live in and subsidises more expensive destinations.
The fact that the talented football player ended up in the only other Australian city with a big rugby league following at a time when the church was blitzing Brisbane with a US-style advertising campaign (the city has the country's largest Mormon cohort and is known as Australia's Salt Lake) suggests
either an unusually high knowledge of rugby league for Utah, or an unusual level of communication between the Australian office and international headquarters.
There is no doubt the Queensland chapter of the church is thrilled with its recruit, and not just for publicity reasons. Elder Hopoate is an excellent missionary; enthusiastic, hard working, disciplined. He has already been taken off daily doorknocking duties and promoted to mentor of other missionaries.
Elder Hopoate himself seems equally happy.
He admits the decision took some thought, but "now that I am here, I am forever grateful that I am here to see people change for the better, and see enlightenment".
In the early 19th century, a hoard of Christian missionaries descended on the South Pacific islands. Most of them were various brands of English protestants, eager to spread the word to the so-called savages.
The Torres Strait Islands, which are home to dozens of different Christian denominations, still celebrate the missionaries' arrival with turtle and dugong at an annual Coming of the Light festival.
In 1843, a group of Mormons set out from New Bedford, Massachusetts, and began establishing missions in Polynesia.
The church reached Tonga in 1891, and was adopted with enthusiasm by the locals. Now, 45 per cent of Tongans are Mormons -- one of the highest per capita rates in the world. The Hopoates are Tongan, although Brenda was born into the Uniting Church and converted when she married John.
As the number of South Pacific islanders in rugby league grows, so does the number of devout Christians. It's a story that gets little airplay alongside the drinking, gambling and drug-taking scandals, but one that is keeping a small but talented group on the straight and narrow as their teammates veer off it.
Melbourne Storm player Lagi Setu recently returned from a two-year Mormon mission. He was based in Britain, and has used the people he introduced to the religion in the West Midlands as inspiration for the challenge of getting fit again for the 2013 season (his so-called "Heathrow Injection" was 13kg).
William Hopoate's Parramatta teammate-to-be Jarryd Hayne is a member of the Hillsong Church, and credits religion -- which he discovered after being shot at in Kings Cross in 2008 -- with giving him perspective and patience. Israel Folau, the league-turned-AFL-turned-rugby union player, is a former Mormon who also attends the Hillsong Church.
Another Parramatta player, Tim Mannah, is a born-again Christian who, although a Baptist, also likes to hang out with other players at Hillsong. He says the number of committed Christians in rugby league is growing. "There are guys from everywhere, all kinds of denominations," he says. "I think guys are getting more comfortable in sharing what they believe."
Mannah is one of those players who prays before matches.
"Not for a win, as much as God cares about us -- he's not so caught up in the win or lose situation of sporting matches -- but for safety and guidance. It does give me a bit of perspective," Mannah says. "As an athlete, there are times when things aren't going the best, and it's just refreshing to have that perspective. If things don't work out on the field, it's not the be all and end all."
When William Hopoate told his teammates he was taking two years off, he said they were happy for him, and curious. He's never felt judged or ridiculed because of his beliefs.
"I tend to find people have more respect for you if you stand up for what you believe in," he says.
He, too, believes his religious life gives him a perspective that other players don't have. When I ask if he feels sorry for the Todd Carneys and Ben Barbas of the world, he replies that life in the limelight can be difficult. "My heart is filled with gratitude towards God, for what He taught me in helping me to stay level-headed off the field."
When William Hopoate was a baby, Brenda didn't understand what the other mothers were complaining about -- she thought every baby was as sweet and peaceful as hers.
Then she had her second son, Jamil, and she learned her lesson.
Jamil Hopoate is a chip off the old block. He is a talented football player, but lacks his brother's discipline; after also being signed by Parramatta, Jamil was sacked late last year for disciplinary lapses, including being caught for mid-range drink-driving after 12 beers and sleeping through seminars at NRL Rookie Camp after a night out in Kings Cross. He was later picked up by his dad's old team, Manly, for the under-20s.
"Jamil's not such a good boy, like William," says Brenda.
"Our second one is our rebel one. He parties, he drinks, where William has never gone to a party, never drinks. I would love it if he (Jamil) would change very soon and maybe go (on mission), but he's a hard-out party animal.
"I have given up stressing over him, I can't change him, he has to change on his own."
The family is close.
There are 10 children, seven boys and three girls. The most recent, George, was born in November, and hasn't yet met his eldest brother.
Perhaps some of William's extraordinary self-discipline came from learning responsibility young.
He helped his mother with changing nappies, feeding and settling the babies. "I never had to ask him twice," she says.
He also contributes financially to the family, on top of the tithes he would pay the church (the exact amount is confidential).
William is so loyal to Jamil that many thought the older brother would quit Parramatta in protest at Jamil's sacking.
So far that hasn't happened. William says he remains committed to Parramatta. But he is defensive when Agenda refers to Jamil as the naughtier of the two.
"I wouldn't say he's naughtier," says William. "He still, like myself, loves his family, he still supports Mum and Dad, he's part of the church. His decisions might be a bit different to what I've decided to do, but he still has a big heart."
Although he admits Jamil has a streak of his father's recklessness, "his heart is like Mum's -- really open and loving towards my brothers and sisters". It's easy to see the similarities between John and Jamil, and William and Brenda, who is devoted to the church and runs a household of 12. It's harder to see William as the son of a man known also for his explosive temper that led him into trouble many times, most recently when he was convicted of assault after an altercation while working as a responsible service of alcohol officer at a Kings Cross nightclub.
Where is John Hopoate's imprint on William?
"My father, he is a very different man to what the public portray him to be," says William. "They know him as a big bad boy who doesn't do anything right.
"But off the field, and behind the scenes, he encourages us children to go to church, to read the scriptures, to respect and forgive one another.
"He always said he was the crash-test dummy.
"Having been on both sides of the fence throughout his life, he said coming to church and putting God first, (creates) a far happier life, more fulfilling, more sweet, more joyful.
"He's a man of high standards, a loving family man."
John is active in the church. In their congregation, he has responsibility for guiding and mentoring missionaries like William.
He is also a very hands-on dad, which is perhaps unavoidable in such a big family.
"He's better now that he's 39," says Brenda. "He has a temper. With football and people who bag him, he can't control his temper.
"If he walks on the street and someone gets smart with him,
he has to comment back, or just go and punch.
"But he's a great husband. I wouldn't have 10 kids if he wasn't a good husband. He gets up at night, and feeds them during the night, and even during the day, when he sees me really tired, he says 'go upstairs and nap, I'll see to the baby'. People don't know John at home."
In an interview after William announced he was taking two years off for the church, John revealed just how proud he is of his son. "I wish I did it (mission), but I was not the person Will is. Will is a hundred times better than I am."
Unlike other Mormon mums, Brenda Hopoate doesn't cry when she opens the weekly email from her son. She is busy looking after nine other children, including a five-month-old baby, and knows William is happy in his work in Brisbane.
In fact, there's only one thing that worries her when it comes to William. When he returns to Sydney, he'll probably be looking to settle down and have a family of his own (William himself was coy on this question).
His mother wants him to find a nice girl with a good heart and who is, preferably, a Mormon, although she doesn't want to pressure him.
She fears his fame will bring the wrong kind of attention.
"I can just imagine the girls wanting to go for him, and not for William, but because of his fame and money," she says.
When the right girl does come along, she will be lucky, says Brenda. He would be a great husband, just like John -- probably even better.
