Albert Hopoate, the next talented son of John, in sights of rugby league and union clubs

ALBERT Hopoate, the talented brother of Bulldogs star Will, is in the sights of the Australian rugby sevens team for a possible Olympic campaign.

Junior star Albert Hopoate is in demand.

ALBERT Hopoate, the talented brother of Bulldogs star Will, is in the sights of the Australian sevens team for a possible Olympic campaign as part of rugby’s bid to steer the sought-after teenager into a 15-man future.

The year 11 student has attracted major interest from league and union after demonstrating freakish talent in each code.

The son of John Hopoate will play in the NSW under 16 league team on Wednesday night at Suncorp Stadium, having dominated for Manly in the Harold Matthews competition.

It comes a week after he played for the NSW schoolboys rugby union team in the state championships, where he gained selection on the wing in the Australian schoolboys rugby side to play New Zealand in October.

With talents similar to his brother, Hopoate may choose to follow Will into an NRL career but Australian rugby is pushing hard to keep him and national sevens head coach Andy Friend has met Hopoate and his family.

Junior star Albert Hopoate is in demand.

Friend had been tipped about Hopoate’s potential last year by respected schoolboys coach John Papahatzis, who coaches Hopoate in the St Augustine’s first XV.

Papahatzis has a distinguished track record in schools rugby, having helped develop talent such as Matt Giteau in Canberra and also coached the Australian schoolboys team.

“​In the words of Papa he’s one of the best schoolboy footballers he’s seen since Joe Roff, and he has seen a lot of good footballers,” Friend said.

“I respect Papa so when he says something like that there’s obviously an interest. And apparently Albert had made a comment that he was interested in going to an Olympic Games and a Commonwealth Games, and there is only one code in which you do that.

“Once I heard that it was obviously ‘lets have a chat’. He is obviously a great young player and if he has a desire to achieve that it was definitely worth talking with him.

“That’s where we have left it at this point in time but everyone is after his services I believe.

“That’s the beauty of where we are at with sevens now, though. It is offering this opportunity that other codes — as much as they’d love to — just can’t emulate.”

Albert Hopoate (second left) with members of the NSW U/16 rugby league team.

After years of watching elite talent lost to league, rugby is trying to focus energy on retaining and recruiting the best young players, who often juggle both codes.

Sevens is increasingly seen as a valuable pathway asset, and not just because it can offer a potential breakfast room brush with LeBron James or Rafael Nadal.

The sevens program can also offer a school-leaver a professional contract, with full-time training and a World Series circuit that plays at Twickenham, in Las Vegas, Hong Kong and other major cities around the world.

Friend said there is increasing collaboration within Australian rugby pitching a career pathway for a talented youngsters that begins with a sevens stint before a shift to Super Rugby and perhaps the Wallabies.

“There can definitely be collaboration with the 15s and we had some really healthy discussions with the ARU, with Super Rugby coaches and Wallabies coaches, sitting down and discussing with the state of the game and where it’s at, and how we as a collective can provide better pathways and direction for young players in the game. Sevens is an option there,” Friend said.

“For a younger player to come into a sevens program, the skillset you are chasing is quite specific with real attention to detail, pass, tackle, breakdown.

“It will fast-track those kids who would have otherwise gone into a Super program. In a year in sevens, you will probably get what you have done in a couple of years in a Super program in terms of conditioning and skills under fatigue.”