Ex-Hull KR star training with boyhood club after Super League exit

After leaving Super League, former Hull KR star Tom Opacic has been pictured training with his boyhood club.

Opacic left Craven Park at the end of the 2024 season despite having previously signed a contract extension tying him to the club until the end of 2025.

The Australian arrived ahead of the 2023 campaign on an initial two-year deal before adding a further year in October 2023. Despite that, he found himself out of favour amid Rovers’ packed centre room and returned home at the conclusion of the 2024 season.

Reports of an NRL opportunity emerged in September with Brisbane Broncos touted as a destination but the 30-year-old has now been seen in training with the Redcliffe Dolphins, the club that he represented as a junior.

The Dolphins remain affiliated with their namesakes in the NRL as a feeder team, of course, but it remains to be seen if the Redcliffe native can earn himself a contract in the sport’s premier competition.

Hull KR centre training with Queensland Cup team

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A post shared by Redcliffe Dolphins (@dolphinsrlfc)

An image of the ex-Hull KR centre has been shared on the @dolphinsrlfc Instagram account, captioned: “Look who’s back.”

The picture shows the centre engaged in a tackle with a teammate and has sparked the suggestion that he could be in line for an opportunity with the club this season.

Interestingly the Queensland Cup outfit have not confirmed Opacic has signed for the club, but the suggestion is certainly that Opacic will represent the second string outfit, with the potential to even step up into the NRL fold.

Per Sporting News, the Dolphins have just one spot on their Top 30 available meaning that an opportunity could be hard to come by.

Making matters even tougher is that the tw0-time consecutive Dally M Dream Team centre Herbie Farnworth is one of the club’s starting centres with Jake Averillo also in the picture.

Queensland’s Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow and New Zealand’s Jamayne Isaako also feature in the club’s backline highlighting the strength.

Moreover, Opacic does not feature on the recently-confirmed list of train and trial players so his status is unknown in that respect beyond the fact he is training with the Redcliffe Q Cup team.