NRL star J’maine Hopgood reveals his dad died aged 39 after footy game he wasn’t supposed to play in

He is one of the hardest-working young rising stars of the NRL – and new Parramatta recruit J’maine Hopgood has revealed he’s being spurred on by a family tragedy.

The 23-year-old Queenslander has made the switch from Penrith to western Sydney rivals the Eels over the off-season where he is expected to compete with Ryan Matterson for the lock position vacated by Marata Niukore (Warriors).

While the young middle forward is not the biggest name in the NRL, he is a tireless machine on the field who averaged 138 metres a game for the Panthers with a tackle efficiency rate of 94.2 per cent.

It’s a work ethic he inherited from his late father, who tragically died when he was just seven years old after playing a game of rugby league he was never meant to lace up the boots for.

J’maine Hopgood of the Panthers is tackled by Luciano Leilua of the Cowboys in 2022. He has now been signed by the Parramatta Eels, where he is expected to start at lock

A young J’maine Hopgood with his father Dale in happier days before his tragic death in 2007 minutes after playing his last game of rugby league

On March 24, 2007 Dale Hopgood set out to take his eldest child Tyrone to a game of rugby league. Secretly, he packed his boots in case the reserves side was short on numbers.

He was called on to play that day, scored a try, and was found dead in his car after suffering a massive heart attack following the match. He was only 39.

His wife Anita remembers that day as clearly as if it was yesterday and told the Sydney Morning Herald her husband had made an extra effort to say goodbye to his kids that morning.

‘They were getting in the car and I caught Dale with his little footy bag,’ she recalled.

‘I said, ‘What are you doing?’ He said, ‘Oh, reggies [reserve grade] might be short.’ I said, ‘No you’re not’. He said, ‘I’ll just see’. He was trying to sneak out with his bag. He hadn’t trained or played in a year.

Dale was a proud father of four children. Pictured with his family including wife Anita, J’maine, Tyrone and their sisters

J’maine has posted a series of photos and videos honouring his late father ahead of his first season with Parramatta following his move from the Panthers

‘When he left, he actually missed kissing one of our kids. He came back up and found her and gave her a kiss and went again. He drove out the driveway and that was the last time we ever saw him.’

Tyrone was a promising young player himself and was signed by the Manly Sea Eagles for the now defunct under-20s NRL competition.

However, he was never the same after losing his dad and his career fell apart in front of his eyes.

Now J’maine, who will represent the Indigenous All Stars this weekend, is ensuring the family name has made it to the NRL.

He recalled the tragedy of that day and how his father was never meant to play in that match. 

‘I was seven, turning eight,’ he told the Daily Telegraph.

Hopgood makes a bust against the Eels in a trial match in 2022. He has now switched clubs and will line up for Parramatta in 2023

‘I remember Dad had gone and played footy with my brother Tyrone, who was playing under-18s at the time.

‘And Mum and us kids all stayed at Hervey Bay. We dropped my sister to a friend’s house when Mum got a phone call, and she just turned the car around. She went and picked my sister back up and I was thinking, ‘What’s going on here?’

And we went to my Mum’s sisters and my Nan was there and my other aunty, and mum sort of just dropped straight to the floor when she walked through the door.

‘She was hysterically crying.

Another family memory that Hopgood has shared on social media to honour his later father who died tragically in 2007 when he was just 39

‘I wasn’t really sure what was happening until we later got told.

‘The game was up in Bundaberg that he was playing and Dad never made it out of the ambulance.

‘He wasn’t supposed to play that day.

‘He had told Mum that he would stop playing. He was 39.

‘But he couldn’t help but go up there and play reserve grade … the rest is history I suppose.’