J'maine Hopgood

J'maine Dale Hopgood (born 11 May 1999) is a professional rugby league footballer who plays as a lock for the Parramatta Eels in the National Rugby League (NRL).

J'maine Hopgood
Personal information
Full nameJ'maine Dale Hopgood[1]
Born (1999-05-11) 11 May 1999
Hervey Bay, Queensland, Australia
Height185 cm (6 ft 1 in)
Weight102 kg (16 st 1 lb)
Playing information
PositionLock
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2021–22 Penrith Panthers 9 0 0 0 0
2023– Parramatta Eels 24 4 0 0 16
Total 33 4 0 0 16
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2023 Indigenous All Stars 1 0 0 0 0
Source: [2]
As of 24 August 2023

He previously played for the Penrith Panthers in the NRL.

Early life

Hopgood was born in Hervey Bay, Queensland. He grew up playing for the Hervey Bay Seagulls before moving to Caloundra, Queensland at age 16, where he played for the Caloundra Sharks.[3]

Hopgood's father Dale died of a heart attack on 24 March 2007, aged 39, less than an hour after playing a match for the Seagulls.[1][4]

Playing career

Early career

In 2017, Hopgood captained Penrith's S. G. Ball Cup (under-18s) squad during his first season at the club.[3] Later that same year, he played for the Queensland under-18s team.[5]

In 2019, Hopgood played for the Queensland under-20s team.[1]

2021

Hopgood was promoted to Penrith's 30-man NRL squad ahead of the 2021 NRL season.[6]

Hopgood made his first grade debut for Penrith in their round 10 match against the Gold Coast on 16 May 2021, as part of the Magic Round. Hopgood's debut was publicly announced on the Tuesday prior, his 22nd birthday.[7]

2022

On 1 June, Hopgood signed a two-year deal to join Parramatta. It was reported that Hopgood had a verbal agreement to join North Queensland for the 2023 NRL season but decided to join the Parramatta club instead.[8] Hopgood captained Penrith's NSW Cup team to the 2022 premiership defeating Canterbury in the grand final. Hopgood was also named the 2022 NSW Cup player of the year.[9][10] On 2 October, Hopgood scored two tries and was named man of the match in Penrith's 44–10 victory over Norths Devils in the 2022 NRL State Championship final.[11]

2023

Hopgood represented the Indigenous All Stars in the 2023 All Stars match match.[12][13]

Hopgood made his club debut for Parramatta in round 1 of the 2023 NRL season against Melbourne which saw the club lose 16–12 in golden point extra-time.[14] In round 3 against Manly, Hopgood threw a wild offload in the final five minutes of the match as Parramatta were narrowly behind the scoreboard. The pass was taken by Manly player Haumole Olakau'atu who raced away to score the match winning try. Parramatta would lose the game 34–30.[15] In round 8, Hopgood was sent to the sin bin for a hip drop tackle on Brisbane's Cory Paix during Parramatta's 26–16 loss.[16] In May, Hopgood re-signed with Parramatta until the end of 2025. In round 11, Hopgood scored his first try for Parramatta in their 26–18 loss against Canberra.[17] Hopgood played a total of 24 matches for Parramatta in the 2023 NRL season as the club finished 10th and missed the finals.[18]

References
  1. Badel, Peter (10 July 2019). "Young Maroon doing it for dad". Courier Mail. Retrieved 16 May 2021.
  2. Rugby League Project
  3. McInerney, Matthew (9 February 2017). "Hervey Bay junior Hopgood named Panthers captain". Queensland Times. Retrieved 16 May 2021.
  4. Chammas, Michael (13 May 2021). "Dale Hopgood died after a game of footy. On Sunday, his son makes his NRL debut". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 16 May 2021.
  5. Antrobus, Blake (15 June 2017). "Former Seagull makes headlines at U18s State of Origin". Fraser Coast Chronicle. Retrieved 16 May 2021.
  6. St John, Mark (2 March 2021). "Transfer Centre: Teenage speedster joins four-man race for vacant Storm wing". Fox Sports. Retrieved 16 May 2021.
  7. "'Best birthday present ever': Bay footy star to debut for Panthers". Fraser Coast Chronicle. 11 May 2021. Retrieved 16 May 2021.
  8. "EELS Broncos handed another release request; Dolphins pounce on Dogs No.9: Transfer Whispers". www.foxsports.com.au.
  9. "NSW Cup Grand Final 2022". www.nswrl.com.
  10. "Penrith Panthers' back-to-back NRL premierships the culmination of grand final victories across all grades". www.abc.net.au.
  11. "Sunia sizzles as Panthers down Devils in State Championship". www.nrl.com.
  12. "Panthers unveils 2021 Indigenous Jersey". penrithpanthers.com.au. 25 March 2021. Retrieved 16 May 2021.
  13. Newton, Alicia (6 February 2023). "Rivers to Rotorua: Hopgood takes to main stage in All Stars arena". NRL. Retrieved 18 September 2023.
  14. "Melbourne Storm beat Parramatta Eels in golden point: NRL 2023 season opener – as it happened". www.theguardian.com.
  15. "Manly Sea Eagles prevail 34-30 against Parramatta Eels to maintain unbeaten start to NRL season". www.abc.net.au.
  16. "'Damage done early' by Broncos stars as Eels urged to 'harden up': Big hits". www.foxsports.com.au.
  17. "Raiders beat Parramatta Eels in Canberra, Rabbitohs and Cowboys also win". www.abc.net.au.
  18. "NRL 2023: Parramatta Eels season review". www.sportingnews.com.
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