On Friday,when he starts at fullback for Manly against Melbourne,the 19-year-old will become the latest member of the famous footballing family to play top-grade rugby league,following in the footsteps of Will,Jamil,Albert in the NRL and Kalosipani in NRLW.
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“The pressure is off myself now,I don’t have to feel like the black sheep any more – I don’t have to worry about being in their shadow,” Lehi told this masthead.
Lehi said his older brother,John Junior – currently playing with Wynnum Manly in Queensland Cup – was probably the most talented of all the siblings,while he was too young to remember watching dad.
“There was never any video from the 1950s,so he never went viral,” said Lehi,as he posed for a photo with John on the front lawn of the family house in Dee Why.
John piped up:“Lehi is a bit of a smart-arse. And he is the most laid back,to the point it does my head in.
John Hopoate with son Lehi at their home in Dee Why.Dion Georgopoulos
“He also happens to be a clean freak. He won’t stay at anyone’s house unless he has his own pillowcase and linen,and needs us telling him at least an hour before we go anywhere so he can get ready.”
Hopoate will be bursting with pride when Lehi takes to the field against the Storm.
“When it comes to all the accomplishments I had in my career,whether it was boxing or playing rugby league,it’s nothing compared to seeing your kids’ dreams come true,” John said.
For the record,John said one of the biggest regrets in his first-grade career had been rejecting a four-year deal to join the Storm in 1998.
Lehi Hopoate will make his NRL debut for the Sea Eagles against Melbourne on Friday.NRL Photos/Gregg Porteous
“I thought at the time they were a new club and would be hopeless for years,and we’d just come off three grand finals[at Manly],plus I had no family in Melbourne – it was one of the biggest regrets of my career that I never went,” Hopoate said.
Lehi learned he would be playing when he arrived for training on Thursday. He went to Las Vegas with the Sea Eagles,and said he had been fortunate to learn the art of fullback play from Tom Trbojevic and Brett Stewart,two legends on the Northern Beaches.
He said the best piece of advice had come from Daly Cherry-Evans,who told him:“Go out and play your game and know that pressure is a privilege.”
“I’ve been dreaming of this moment since I was a kid,” Lehi said. “To see my brothers do it,and my sister do it,it only made me want to do it more.”
“There was never any video from the 1950s,so he never went viral.”
Lehi Hopoate on dad John
John snr backed two more of his children,Devida,14,who has joined a camp with the NSW Combined Independent Schools side,and George,11,to one day forge their own successful rugby league careers.
Lehi could also have made it in basketball,with his coach at St Augustine’s College in Brookvale,former NBL star Mark Dalton,certain he had a serious future in that sport.
Lehi and Kalosipani Hopoate tasting success in their junior footy days.Supplied
“We tried to push him to basketball,so he could play different sports,but he wanted to follow rugby league,” John said.
Lehi has made the most of his pedigree. He was previously a member of Manly’s Harold Matthews premiership-winning team and then went on to captain the side.
The speedy fullback is one of eight children still living in Dee Why with his parents. Will lives across the road. There are seven grandchildren.
“Our shopping bill is between $800 and $1000 every week,” John said. “It’s a lot for us to pay the bills.”
Sea Eagles coach Anthony Seibold confirmed Lehi would make his first-grade debut against Melbourne,potentially pitting him against the exciting Storm fullback Sualauvi Faalogo.
“He’s a pretty special young kid,” Seibold said. “He did the pre-season with us,he did such a good job that we took him over to Vegas with us for the experience … Lehi is a young guy who will bring plenty of energy.”
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