Hopoate given nine match ban
By Darren Walton
June 15, 2004
JOHN Hopoate's defence counsel made a staggering admission of inadequacy before the National Rugby League judiciary rubbed Manly's notorious winger out of the game for nine matches tonight.
Hopoate was outed until Manly's round 25 clash with St George Illawarra after admitting to two counts of misconduct.
The former Australia and Tonga international copped an eight-match ban for making derogatory and threatening remarks to match officials after Sunday's game at Parramatta Stadium and a further one-game suspension for fighting Parramatta forward Craig Stapleton.
The lengthy layoff effectively placed Hopoate on the NRL's death row.
The 30-year-old father of eight is off contract at the end of the season and, with his career suspensions now totalling a mammoth 28 weeks, it's almost certain Manly won't offer him a new deal.
In a bizarre, hour-long hearing, interchange official Darren Alchin said Hopoate had taken offence when he urged Hopoate to "shut it Hoppa, just shut it" after the Manly firebrand apparently hurled abuse at touch judge Steve Chiddy in the players' tunnel immediately after the Sea Eagles 52-12 loss.
"Don't tell me to shut up, I'll knock you out, you faggot," Hopoate allegedly said to Alchin.
Alchin was wearing a NSWRL tracksuit at the time, but a remorseful and apologetic Hopoate insisted he didn't know Alchin was an official.
"I'm not here to shy away from what happened on Sunday," Hopoate said.
"I know what I did was wrong. I'm not hear to plead my innocence. I know I'm guilty. I sincerely apologise to the parties, to the two officials involved, to the (judiciary) panel.
"But I didn't have a clue that the person I made these remarks to was an official of the game."
Manly football manager Peter Peters argued that "we were playing NRL, I thought" and therefore couldn't be governed by the NSWRL.
Alchin said he deemed it necessary to intervene when Hopoate taunted Chiddy with the remarks "You're just a bloody touch judge, you are only a touchy".
Hopoate it was claimed also said: "You guys are a disgrace. You two blokes had your usual top game.
Despite Hopoate showing remorse, his counsel Manly executive director Paul Cummings, all but raised the white flag in an extraordinary submission.
Describing judiciary counsel Paul Conlon's prosecution as vindictive and zealous, Cummings said "I feel terribly inadequate here" representing Hopoate.
"I'd like to apologise to John for that and to the Manly club. I didn't understand these proceedings and we'll be better represented in the future," he said.
"We are not defending John's guilt and neither is John ... if this is the end of John's career, then so be it."
At one point in the hearing, Hopoate glanced despairingly towards Manly coach Des Hasler.
Perhaps with good reason as the prosecution had just gone for the jugular, recommending the three-man panel of former first graders Royce Ayliffe, Scott Tronc and Bob Lindner to impose a 15-match penalty.
Conlon said such a harsh punishment was only appropriate given that Hopoate had previously been suspended four times for misconduct, including one infamous 12-match ban for anally probing North Queensland players while playing for Wests Tigers in 2001. Cummings said after the hearing that it was too early to say whether Hopoate had a future at the club beyond 2004.
AAP
