Matty Bhoy
Juniors
- Messages
- 2,376
Hopefully every single one of them and they win the GF and take him off our hands.
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Hopefully every single one of them and they win the GF and take him off our hands.
Yea apparently the sore back has suddenly got better....
22 hour plane ride to the UK won't help those back issues.
www.nine.com.au
Barely 12 months on from his Maroons debut, J’maine Hopgood has revealed the extent of an injury plight that threatened to derail his career, and how his father’s passing fortified him.
The Parramatta Eels lock has played on reduced minutes in 2025, limited to a few weeks of preseason after two surgeries.
That didn’t stop the Hervey Bay product earning a State of Origin squad recall for game three, having played in the series opener last year before succumbing to a back injury.
“I had a herniated disc, and it was hitting a nerve in my back that was cutting off power to my foot and big toe. So for about three months I couldn’t flex my big toe and couldn’t run,” Hopgood said.
“For a bit there, it was ‘wow, this is pretty serious’. Then as I had the surgery and they took that disc out, within two or three months I had all that feeling back.
“Then I had a knee op before Christmas as well and only had a few weeks of preseason into round one, and we were sort of pushing the body there.
“It’s been an interrupted last 12 months for me.”
The 26-year-old’s story of pain captured national attention upon his maiden Maroons appearance, when he spoke of his father Dale’s passing from a heart attack an hour after playing a game for the Hervey Bay Seagulls.
Hopgood was just 13 at the time, and moved to Caloundra three years later.
The star forward reflects on that experience as “character building”, and a heartbreak he draws on when life throws him a curveball.
Hopgood garnered his Origin cap on his ability to produce 80-minute stints – averaging 121 running metres and 38 tackles a game, while making 77 offloads across his first two Parramatta seasons.
Under new coach Jason Ryles, he has settled for just 48 minutes and 72 metres an outing.
But as he prepares to line up at prop against Brisbane, he insisted there was no bad blood regarding his reduced time, adamant the form of mid-season recruit Dylan Walker and starting middles Junior Paulo and Jack Williams made the decision obvious.
“We’re all sharing minutes. As long as we’re trending in the right direction ... I’m more than happy to do whatever the team needs,” Hopgood said.
“I’m not one to whinge about minutes, it’s whatever the team needs.”
‘My pops learnt the hard way’: This Maroon’s dad died after a game. More pain was to come
A childhood tragedy ultimately built resilience in a one-time State of Origin star – a trait he needed in spades as new surgeries threatened his NRL rise.www.smh.com.au
Yeah he's a good bloke from the sounds of it. Wish him well and just stop making errors
I thought he was much improved last game.
