Lehi Hopoate

[MW66]

I wish him all the best. Would like to see him play FB as this is his natural position and while he may get exposed at times he has the skills to cope. He is very good under the high ball and moves nicely when returning the ball/chiming into the backline. No point in putting him on the wing. I assume they will move Garrick however that is the conservative approach. We need to be positive and on the front foot in this game.

 

[Tragic Eagle]

Good luck young Hoppa. Hopefully the beginning of a long and successful first grade career

 

[Bloke on the hill]

He has been playing great in the lower grade & can't ask more than that from him, I hope he plays well & enjoys it!

 

[nightster]

Not the calves blood?

its a secret

 

[nightster]

Koula is my favourite player at Manly but I still think Tom is a far superior option at 1. I agree Koula is dangerous on those sweep plays, given his speed, etc. It's the organisation and reading of the play in both attack and defence that he is not going to offer. Tom is broken and a shadow of his best self, but he reads the game better than probably any other fullback in the competition. He has lost some of his acceleration through injury, looks tentative in defence, and has been making too many errors. However, he still provides more game awareness and we'll need that at the business end of the season (if we get there).

I would agree if that observation was followed by 'in attack', because some of his defensive reads are terrible, even with Snake's coaching.

 

[Will on the hill]

Named at FB in the 24hr cut.

 

[The Indian]

How long b4 Hoppa snr orders Manly to pay his son 500k and they will leave for minimum pay.

After 1 good half of footy and 1 try assist probably.

Gotta give the kid a chance cause he's his own person but we all fear how it will go given the track records. To be honest I think that about every kid who isn't already signed up long term when they get a shot early and go OK .... when they are in the shop window they get bought quick ( if they are any good ) . Look at Blaze talagi at Parra an an example, its all clubs.

Anyhow such is life

 

[SeaEagleRock8]

Lehi now has his pic up on Manly's NRL Teams page! No idea whether that means he's been elevated to the Top 30 but ... why not, someone has to be! Also Aitasi James is there now, so we're up to 29.

It was pretty obvious young Hoppa was in our plans when Seibold picked him as one of the players for the Vegas trip. Hope he has a blinder, go Lehi!

 

[XV-1]

Named at FB in the 24hr cut.

But will he play fullback?

Seibold quoted that he has yet to decide what position he will play.
" he has played multiple positions in 2nd grade. Garrick can play multiple positions so we will look today and make a decision after training:

Hmmmm

 

[Rackets]

Will Seibold have the balls to play him FB or will he throw him on the wing? I know Garrick has done the job well for us before, but I say give the kid a go, it's his preferred position and let's hope he kills it.

 

[Seagles68]

I like the idea of Talau and Koula and Rubes back on the wing but I just can't see Seibs putting Hoppa at FB against the Storm in his 1st game.

I guess I have to revise this now that Koula is out. He may now play FB but if he does and Hughes plays, they're going to throw the kitchen sink at him.

 

[nightster]

Lehi now has his pic up on Manly's NRL Teams page! No idea whether that means he's been elevated to the Top 30 but ... why not, someone has to be! Also Aitasi James is there now, so we're up to 29.

It was pretty obvious young Hoppa was in our plans when Seibold picked him as one of the players for the Vegas trip. Hope he has a blinder, go Lehi!

James needs to improve 1000% before he is a worthy 1st grade replacement ... imho .... hugely disappointing so far.

 

[Forster eagle]

You are the first person that has made a sensible argument about moving TomT to centre.The idea that he’d get less injured playing centre,is laughable.As you said,his injuries are chronic and it won’t matter where he plays.He wouldn’t train any less if he was playing centre and he was injured at Origin playing there
But as you said,less disruption to the team if he’s playing centre

I'll give you another reason....he doesn't make that extra effort running across field that is required to make the last ditch tackle on a winger as he did so easily in 2021. Whether that's because he's cautious to run at 100%, I'm not sure. But he's certainly not the defensive player he was.

 

[court83]

Man it's hard to not think negatively about another hoppa jnr making his debut...
You just know that if the kid plays half decently the old man's gonna be immediately shopping him out to the highest bidder and slamming manly in the media for not playing him at 1 for the rest of the season etc etc etc

Hope the kid goes well but from the hoppa family track record I have zero interest or excitement for his debut

 

[The Who]

I guess I have to revise this now that Koula is out. He may now play FB but if he does and Hughes plays, they're going to throw the kitchen sink at him.

... does that mean our hopes go down the drain?

 

[Eagle 1]

How long b4 Hoppa snr orders Manly to pay his son 500k and they will leave for minimum pay.

Just hope we don't get Fainued again.

 

[Seagles68]

... does that mean our hopes go down the drain?

Yes indeed. Unless they can plug a hole in the backline.

I'm trying to stay positive and I'll still be there. But I have a bad feeling about this one. I hope I'm wrong.

 

[Seagles68]

Man it's hard to not think negatively about another hoppa jnr making his debut...
You just know that if the kid plays half decently the old man's gonna be immediately shopping him out to the highest bidder and slamming manly in the media for not playing him at 1 for the rest of the season etc etc etc

Hope the kid goes well but from the hoppa family track record I have zero interest or excitement for his debut

I know what you're saying but the kid can't be blamed for his old man. I'm very interested coz it could be our season gone tonight. We need him to at least hold his own and not be a disaster. Here's hoping.

 

[Eagle 1]

I know what you're saying but the kid can't be blamed for his old man. I'm very interested coz it could be our season gone tonight. We need him to at least hold his own and not be a disaster. Here's hoping.

Agree, talk about a baptism of fire for young Lehi, anyway, he looked mighty impressive on his highlights reel. Also, playing at Brookie first up will be hugely in his favour.

 

[Ron E. Gibbs]

Will Seibold have the balls to play him FB or will he throw him on the wing?

I reckon he'll play fullback. Putting him anywhere else just doesn't make any sense.

And say what you like about Seibold (and we have a number of threads to do just that), one thing I'll give him credit for is giving young players a shot. Des would pick players for their debut and leave them sitting on the bench the entire game, or pop them on in the last five minutes. Seibold seems more inclined to give them the time to at least have a chance to impact the game.

Sure, it hasn't worked, but still…