Berkeley_Eagle
Current Status: 24/7 Manly Fan
MOVE over Damir, looks like John Hopoate wants to challenge for the title as Australia's most controversial sporting dad.
That's the topic one of our reader's put up for debate yesterday when he posted a comment on The Daily Telegraph's website, labelling Will Hopoate as the NRL's new Jelena Dokic.
While that might be a little extreme it must be as sad as it is embarrassing for the 19-year-old Blues rookie.
In case you missed it, Hoppa snr made a mug of himself again this week when he attempted to hijack his son's first day in camp, allegedly because of his own war with the media.
Picture this: Will was downstairs at the Coogee Crowne Plaza doing interviews after being named as the youngest player in Ricky Stuart's squad when he got a call from his dad.
The next thing, Will disappeared, later telling team media manager Tristan Hay that he would not perform any more media interviews on the advice of his father
Seriously, you talk about words of wisdom.
It was left to Blues teammate Anthony Watmough to phone his old Manly teammate and convince him to allow Will to participate in promoting next Wednesday night's Origin game.By that point, the damage had been done.
Instead of a memorable day, Will woke yesterday to see his picture plastered across the front page for all the wrong reasons.
Remember, the kid did nothing wrong except listen to his father's advice.
It's a shame someone at Manly can't tell Hoppa snr to pull his head in. It's a shame Hopoate snr isn't heading off on his own sabbatical, like Will plans to do at the end of the season when he takes a two-year break to become a Mormon missionary.
It sounds like Will could do without his old man's interference as he prepares for the biggest game of his life.
This embarrassment would have to take its toll on his preparations - and when you think about all the wonderful opportunities rugby league has given John over the years, it makes even less sense.
People at Manly always stick up for Hoppa, saying he is a great bloke.
They will tell you that the former Manly, NSW and Australian representative has a fantastic relationship with his son, and that he's been a tremendous father to all his kids.
Even before Will pulled the pin on Monday's interviews, the Blues rookie spoke passionately about his dad being a role model throughout his life - despite all the controversies that marred his father's turbulent career, including the infamous bum-poking attacks of 2001 that made news all over the world.
Will told colleague James Phelps: "That time was a very tough time for the family. One of the toughest times of our lives ... I was never embarrassed by it and it is in the past now.
"And I always wanted to be like Dad."
His comments would make any father proud. So why would his dad want to stand in his way?
Like I said, it makes no sense, which probably makes perfect sense in John Hopoate's world.
Earlier this year, John tried to pull a similar stunt when he physically attempted to block media at a Sydney court - where he was facing assault charges relating to the bashing of a man at Kings Cross while he working as a security guard.
If you take time to look back over his career, there are too many controversies to begin to understand when it was that he started blaming the media for all that has gone wrong in his life.
Chances are he'll never forget the past - but hopefully his son can.
Â
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/nrl/john-hopoate-chasing-damir-dokic-title/story-e6frexv9-1226071297011
.
By the way if you want to respond to Paul crawley at his Twitter @telepaulcrawleyÂ
That's the topic one of our reader's put up for debate yesterday when he posted a comment on The Daily Telegraph's website, labelling Will Hopoate as the NRL's new Jelena Dokic.
While that might be a little extreme it must be as sad as it is embarrassing for the 19-year-old Blues rookie.
In case you missed it, Hoppa snr made a mug of himself again this week when he attempted to hijack his son's first day in camp, allegedly because of his own war with the media.
Picture this: Will was downstairs at the Coogee Crowne Plaza doing interviews after being named as the youngest player in Ricky Stuart's squad when he got a call from his dad.
The next thing, Will disappeared, later telling team media manager Tristan Hay that he would not perform any more media interviews on the advice of his father
Seriously, you talk about words of wisdom.
It was left to Blues teammate Anthony Watmough to phone his old Manly teammate and convince him to allow Will to participate in promoting next Wednesday night's Origin game.By that point, the damage had been done.
Instead of a memorable day, Will woke yesterday to see his picture plastered across the front page for all the wrong reasons.
Remember, the kid did nothing wrong except listen to his father's advice.
It's a shame someone at Manly can't tell Hoppa snr to pull his head in. It's a shame Hopoate snr isn't heading off on his own sabbatical, like Will plans to do at the end of the season when he takes a two-year break to become a Mormon missionary.
It sounds like Will could do without his old man's interference as he prepares for the biggest game of his life.
This embarrassment would have to take its toll on his preparations - and when you think about all the wonderful opportunities rugby league has given John over the years, it makes even less sense.
People at Manly always stick up for Hoppa, saying he is a great bloke.
They will tell you that the former Manly, NSW and Australian representative has a fantastic relationship with his son, and that he's been a tremendous father to all his kids.
Even before Will pulled the pin on Monday's interviews, the Blues rookie spoke passionately about his dad being a role model throughout his life - despite all the controversies that marred his father's turbulent career, including the infamous bum-poking attacks of 2001 that made news all over the world.
Will told colleague James Phelps: "That time was a very tough time for the family. One of the toughest times of our lives ... I was never embarrassed by it and it is in the past now.
"And I always wanted to be like Dad."
His comments would make any father proud. So why would his dad want to stand in his way?
Like I said, it makes no sense, which probably makes perfect sense in John Hopoate's world.
Earlier this year, John tried to pull a similar stunt when he physically attempted to block media at a Sydney court - where he was facing assault charges relating to the bashing of a man at Kings Cross while he working as a security guard.
If you take time to look back over his career, there are too many controversies to begin to understand when it was that he started blaming the media for all that has gone wrong in his life.
Chances are he'll never forget the past - but hopefully his son can.
Â
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/nrl/john-hopoate-chasing-damir-dokic-title/story-e6frexv9-1226071297011
.
By the way if you want to respond to Paul crawley at his Twitter @telepaulcrawleyÂ