Manly threatened with loss of NRL competition points unless John Hopoate is stood down

MANLY have been threatened with the deduction of NRL competition points unless bad boy John Hopoate is stood down as a junior coach.

Former boxer and rugby league player John Hopoate will resurrect his boxing career with some fights on the Gold Coast this year. Picture: Brendan Radke.

The Manly Sea Eagles have been threatened with the deduction of NRL competition points and a $30,000 fine unless bad boy John Hopoate is stood down as a junior coach for his alleged links to organised crime.

The Sunday Telegraph can reveal the NRL had a breach notice ready to serve to Manly on Friday but held it back when informed Hopoate would not be coaching the Sea Eagles’ SG Ball side this weekend because the team had a bye.

An NRL spokesman last night said the loss of competition points was a “last resort” if the Sea Eagles continued to ignore an integrity unit ruling that Hopoate is not a fit and proper person to be coaching junior players.

“That’s an option open to us further down the track if Manly continues to defy the ruling,” a spokesman said.

The breach notice is understood to include the threat of a $30,000 fine and warnings of further financial penalties if Hopoate continued to coach the Under 18s junior representative players.

Hopoate coached the Manly SG Ball side last weekend, despite being ‘warned off.’

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.

“I have had meetings with the NRL and Manly Sea Eagles and we supplied certain advice,” Walpole told The Weekend Australian.

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“That advice was in relation to the open source material that was available to Manly. The important thing is that Hopoate was identified as a potential threat to the operations of the casino.

“So we took the steps to have him excluded. I can’t really add any more to that. The commissioner hasn’t taken that step lightly.”

Hopoate defied the NRL by coaching the Sea Eagles SG Ball side.

Manly has been fighting the case for several weeks, claiming the NRL has no jurisdiction over Hopoate because the SG Ball competition is run by the NSW Rugby League.

Hopoate has passed all his coaching exams and is fully qualified under NSWRL rules.

Manly chief executive Joe Kelly declined to comment.

However The Sunday Telegraph understands the club is not prepared to put competition points at risk by allowing Hopoate to continue coaching and will notify the NRL of the decision next week.