{"id":377785,"date":"2024-03-19T23:45:48","date_gmt":"2024-03-20T00:45:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=377785"},"modified":"2024-03-20T03:03:39","modified_gmt":"2024-03-20T03:03:39","slug":"hype-builds-over-manly-teen-as-hopoate-empire-grows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=377785","title":{"rendered":"Hype builds over Manly teen as Hopoate empire grows"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yet another Hopoate \ufeffis being tipped for a bright NRL<\/a> future as exciting Manly teenager Lehi continues to turn heads.<\/p>\n

Lehi, 19, is the eighth of 11 children to John and Brenda Hopoate and is line to become the fifth of the offspring to play NRL or NRLW<\/a> – joining Will, Jamil, Albert and Kalosipani.<\/p>\n

Father John, 50,<\/a> played 209 NRL games and represented NSW, Australia and Tonga during a colourful career.<\/p>\n

Watch the 2024 NRL premiership live and free on Nine and<\/strong><\/em> 9Now<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

\"John<\/p>\n

"I'm sure his stud fee would be high, big Hoppa," Manly prop Matt Lodge told Wide World of Sports.<\/p>\n

"\ufeffLehi is a special player, an exciting talent who has definitely got a bright future. He forced his way over to Vegas and jumped a few people there – I'm sure it won't be long until people see him out there in first grade."<\/p>\n

Lehi has been named to play in the centres for the Sea Eagles' NSW Cup team against Parramatta on Sunday but fullback is viewed as his best long term position.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Mixed reports over shock death of Sabalenka's boyfriend<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> NRL issues urgent warning after Latrell fallout<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Bunnies could lose young gun after shake-up<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

\"Lehi<\/p>\n

"He's got a lot of time on his side," Lodge said.<\/p>\n

"We'll all look after him and help him get to where the team needs him. He went really well all preseason and he's a very fast kid.<\/p>\n

"Growing up in that family, \ufeffhe's a natural footy player who makes things look easy. And most importantly he's a really nice, good kid."<\/p>\n

\"Gus<\/p>\n

John told WWOS that calmness was Lehi's best attribute.<\/p>\n

"He's also got good defence and what better person than Tommy Turbo (Trbojevic) telling him what to do?" Hopoate said.<\/p>\n

"He's also got Brett Stewart, the backs coach at Manly, so two of the greatest fullbacks to ever play for Manly teaching him. He's getting a lot from them."<\/p>\n

\"Trbojevic<\/p>\n

Manly last year re-signed Lehi \ufeffon a three year contract with coach Anthony Seibold saying "we want to build him up physically and help with his game awareness" before playing NRL.<\/p>\n

But after mixing with the big boys during preseason trials, it appears a first grade debut could come this season.\ufeff<\/p>\n

"They took him to to Vegas for experience, which was good for him, the baby," John said.<\/p>\n

"He's progressing a lot faster than what everyone thought he would, so hopefully he'll get a chance this year."<\/p>\n

After much deliberation, John said Lehi probably ranked second among his children in terms of raw talent.\ufeff<\/p>\n

"Lehi is right up there and is a gun basketball player as well. But if I was to pick the best all around kid, I'd have to say Jamil, who's locked up at the moment (for cocaine supply).<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Jamil<\/p>\n

"\ufeffThe drama was he followed the wrong path sometimes. But yeah, four kids have already played at the highest level.<\/p>\n

"Som\ufeffeone told me that is the most in rugby league history. I've done a lot of coaching with them myself so I'm very proud, very happy.<\/p>\n

"We're real close as a family. My older kids saw me training and playing and the younger ones just wanted to follow."<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yet another Hopoate \ufeffis being tipped for a bright NRL future as exciting Manly teenager Lehi continues to turn heads. Lehi, 19, is the eighth […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":377788,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/377785"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=377785"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/377785\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":377792,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/377785\/revisions\/377792"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/377788"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=377785"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=377785"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=377785"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}