St Helens star takes on surprising new role

Former St Helens star Will Hopoate has spoken out about the quality of Super League.

Hopoate spent two years in the Betfred Super League winning the Grand Final at fullback in 2022 against Leeds Rhinos.

Unfortunately, injuries would get in the way of him making a bigger impact on Super League but either way his respect for Super League has massively increased.

He said on James Graham’s The Bye Round: “I feel that the quality of rugby league in England is often underestimated. Growing up in Australia and playing NRL, I didn’t have the chance to watch much Super League.

However, after experiencing it firsthand by playing at St Helens, I was impressed by the standard of play. In fact, some of the players I played with could easily make it into the starting lineup of an NRL team. I truly believe that the standard of rugby league in England is not given enough credit here in Australia.”

Former St Helens star reveals what went wrong

Unfortunately, Will Hopoate has now been forced to retire through injury as he explained what went wrong for him at St Helens.

He said: “I just kept doing my hamstring and my knee was playing up over the past few years. I tried everything under the sun to get it right but I suppose it couldn’t handle the load of professional rugby league anymore.

“I was ticking the boxes in training but you can’t mimic a game.”

St Helens star’s new career

Now retired, Hopoate also revealed his new career with a brand new initiative which is truly inspiring: “It’s called ‘A Will to Succeed’, it’s self-development and we have been going around to different youth groups and businesses, sharing principles that I learnt throughout my career which can be applied in any career path.

“We share how these organisations can create a culture for success. For those young kids in school that are trying to figure out what’s next, we try to help figure out what their strengths and what occupations line up with their strengths.

“That’s the new dream and goal. I was doing a little bit of Canterbury on my days off, we’d go into schools and youth groups but now I’m finished I’ve got more time to throw into it.”

Hopoate received a special tribute from Tonga as did former St Helens teammate Konrad Hurrell after his international retirement.