State of Origin 2024: Queensland debutant J’maine Hopgood inspired by the tragic death of his father

J’maine Hopgood was just seven years old when his father tragically died after a game of local rugby league. The Hervey Bay product reveals his inspiring journey to a Queensland debut.

Maroons debutant J’maine Hopgood has overcome the tragic death of his father to reach the pinnacle of rugby league.

Hopgood will pull on a Queensland jersey for the first time in the State of Origin arena in Wednesday week’s series-opener against NSW in Sydney.

It will be a special moment for the Parramatta Eels forward following a rollercoaster journey to the top during which he contemplated quitting the game.

In 2007, when J’maine was aged seven, his father Dale Hopgood died from a heart attack after making a cameo appearance in a reserve grade match in Bundaberg. He was just 39.

The death of Dale, on the same day J’maine played his first game of rugby league, sent shockwaves through the Hopgood family as mother Anita suddenly became a single parent to four children.

But those challenging years instilled the work ethic and toughness that has made Hopgood an NRL tackling machine who appears built for the Origin arena.

J’maine Hopgood will make his Origin debut. Inset: Hopgood with his late father Dale.

At 25, the Hervey Bay hero will enter Origin history at Accor Stadium, even if the moment is somewhat bittersweet without his rugby league-obsessed father around to witness it.

“It is a little bit (bittersweet),” Hopgood said in Camp Maroon on Monday.

“It’s a dream come true. If you asked a little eight-year-old kid if he’d be standing here today, I wouldn’t know what to say.

“It’s a credit to my whole family. We’ve stuck really tight. We are a really close family and that’s definitely helped me along the way.

“I was just a young kid from Hervey Bay. I’m the first kid born and raised in Hervey Bay to play first grade, let alone play for Queensland.

“To be able to put the postcode on my arm and run out there representing where I come from and everyone from there is very special to me.”

J'maine Hopgood with his mother Anita.

Unlike some of his Maroons teammates who were schoolboys stars destined for NRL glory, Hopgood has taken a different path to the top.

He quit school at 15 and completed a carpentry apprenticeship, playing local league on the Sunshine Coast before Penrith scouts spotted him just before he walked away from the game.

Hopgood made his NRL debut for the Panthers in 2021, aged 22, before landing a deal at Parramatta last year, which has catapulted him into an Origin jersey.

“I was telling Billy (Slater, Queensland coach) on the way here, when I was 15 I dropped out of school and started my apprenticeship,” Hopgood said.

“I was playing club footy for Caloundra and wasn’t even going to do that. I just wanted to focus on my apprenticeship.

“Now I’m standing here with all of you.

“I’ve come a long way. It’s been a long journey, all the years at Penrith toiling away through the grades.

“Even as an 18-year-old playing SG Ball at Penrith, I didn’t think I’d be playing first grade. To be standing here is pretty surreal and very special.”

Slater ushered Hopgood into Camp Maroon as 19th man for last year’s dead-rubber before naming him in jersey No.16 for Game One this year, although he could be promoted to the starting side.

“You know when a player goes silent (on the phone) how much it means to them,” Slater said.

“J’maine’s journey started back at Hervey Bay, growing up playing the game he loves and then he embarked on a journey with Penrith.

“Many probably thought he stayed there too long but I love that about J’maine. He applied his trade and worked on his game and moved across to Parramatta to get his opportunity.

“He earned his way into the camp in Game Three last year and it wasn’t just for experience. When you are one of those, you are held in high regard that if you wear a Maroon jersey, you can do the job for Queensland.

“I am looking forward to seeing him out there. We will talk to the coaches and work out what our best 13 looks like in terms of starting, but he is more than a high workrate player. Watch him a bit closer.”