Sonny Bill Williams calls for NRL to let John Hopoate coach SG Ball

SONNY Bill Williams has urged the NRL to allow controversial rugby league identity John Hopoate to continue his coaching career.

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - FEBRUARY 07: Sonny Bill Williams of New Zealand catches his breath during the 2016 Sydney Sevens cup quarter final match between New Zealand and the United States of America at Allianz Stadium on February 7, 2016 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

SONNY Bill Williams has urged the NRL to allow John Hopoate to continue his coaching career.

The game’s governing body and the controversial rugby league figure appear on a collision course over Hopoate’s role as coach of Manly’s SG Ball side.

However, two-time premiership winner Williams believes Hopoate has paid for his previous indiscretions and should be allowed to mentor the NRL’s rising stars.

“Let the past be the past, Seems like ‘Hoppa’ wants to use it in a positive way and we need more islander coaches coming through the grades.” Williams wrote on Twitter.

Let the past be the past, Seems like hoppa wants to use it in a positive way and we need more islander coaches coming through the grades.

— Sonny Bill Williams (@SonnyBWilliams) February 23, 2016

Williams has turned around his image since emerging as one of the NRL’s most reviled figures when he walked out on Canterbury in 2008.

His positive influence on younger players during his return to the NRL with Sydney Roosters in 2013 and 2014 is credited as a significant factor in the club’s 13th premiership success.

The NRL insist that Hopoate is not a “fit and proper person” to be heading up the Sea Eagles’ elite under-18 side.

As reported in The Daily Telegraph a detective inspector from the police organised crime unit advised the NRL not to allow Hopoate to coach because of his links to organised crime figures.

The detective, Wayne Walpole, met with the NRL integrity unit boss Nick Weeks and Sea Eagles officials Bob Fulton and Joe Kelly three weeks ago over the issue where they were advised Hopoate is banned from Star casino under an order by the NSW police commissioner.

Former NRL player John Hopoate (R) arrives with son, NRL player Will Hopoate, at the Downing Centre Local Court for an appeal hearing for his son, Jamil Hopoate, charged over a bar assault in Sydney.

But the most suspended player in the history of the NRL has vowed to fight any ban.

Hopoate has said he hasn’t been stood down from his coaching role with Manly, however he did not lead the Sea Eagles’ SG Ball side’s training session on Tuesday.

The former representative winger has vowed to take any sanction to the NSW Supreme Court, claiming it’s the NSWRL that has jurisdiction over the SG Ball competition not the NRL.

It is the NSWRL’s position that Hopoate has met the various criteria to qualify as a coach at a junior level.

Those criteria include earning his relevant coaching certificate and acquiring a Working With Children Check.

Sonny Bill Williams has called for the NRL to allow John Hopoate to coach the Manly SG Ball team.

The two league bodies have been at loggerheads since November over the issue.

The NRL’s position is that officials of every NRL club have to be registered with the league and, as Hopoate has not been granted registration, he is ineligible to be involved in an official capacity with the Sea Eagles.

Hopoate will continue to coach the Beacon Hill Bears under 12s, which includes his son Lehi and which he has guided to the last two premierships.

“I’m not allowed to coach 17 and 18-year-olds but I am allowed to coach 12-year-olds,” Hopoate told John Geddes of the Manly Daily.

Originally published as Sonny Bill Williams calls for NRL to let John Hopoate coach SG Ball