Cody Hopwood discussion

Frank McWilliams said:
Was impressed by Hopwoods effort, has a big future if looked after, would like to see him have say 15mins end of 1st half an what ever we can get out of him in the 2nd especially if Frizell returns and one of he and JSaf are on the field whole game, experience needed
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Agree. Thought he was good today and impressive watching live. A couple of plays we were just going sideways and nowhere and without a second thought as soon as he got the ball he was taking it hard up the middle.
 
danknights said:
Cody needs a coach who will help him get up to his running speed quicker. His action is very slow which I think will hurt him in the long run. Yeah he may have a big motor etc etc but you really need good hip and leg drive and be strong through the shoulders to be a damn good prop.
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This has been my concern for him. He has everything else in abundance but struggles to penetrate in contact. Usually the big white guys take time to come up to speed, usually early 20s plus for the middles. Hopwood is 19 still.

So perhaps its not so much a strength thing as much as it is a strength in technique thing which he should pick up as he plays. But I'd obviously like to see it earlier, even if just glimpses, so at least know its there
 
I think he'll get there as early as next year. He's frankly extremely similar to Tino Fa'asuamaleaui, to the point where you want to check for Pasifika ancestry. The more I watch him I think he borders on being a white regen.
 
Les Misérables said:
This has been my concern for him. He has everything else in abundance but struggles to penetrate in contact. Usually the big white guys take time to come up to speed, usually early 20s plus for the middles. Hopwood is 19 still.

So perhaps its not so much a strength thing as much as it is a strength in technique thing which he should pick up as he plays. But I'd obviously like to see it earlier, even if just glimpses, so at least know its there
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He looks good in contact already i reckon
 
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The club has developed Hopwood really well.

As they said in the commentary last night, he was the prop of his generation playing for NSW and Aus schoolboys for a couple of years.
He played long, long minutes - even full games - and was very low mistake rate and very high workrate, but that was against kids his own age.

Last year he started as an 18 year old on the reserve grade bench, doing short minutes to get used to playing against men. It really took most of the season to build him up to decent minutes in seniors. Last game of the year he got a firstgrade debut and went into pre-season as a firstgrader.

This year he started on the bench and slowly built his minutes up till he became a starting prop.

Last night he played a pretty similar role to the role he played as a 17 year old for Australian Schoolboys in 2024 - long minutes, hard work in attack and defence, very few mistakes or bad decisions, holding the team together by making the hard runs and big tackles.

In 2025 he was 18/19 and was eased into seniors in reserve grade, only being asked to do the minutes he was ready for.

In 2026 he was 19/20 and was eased into firstgrade, only being asked to do the minutes he was ready for.

He is now ready to do the job in firstgrade he was doing in juniors 2 years ago.

In contrast, the Saifiti brothers were thrown into firstgrade as 19 year olds after never making rep sides and being pretty ordinary in Flegg the previous year, and they got beat up every week for about 2 years till they were finally able to compete against men.
 
Billy said:
The club has developed Hopwood really well.

As they said in the commentary last night, he was the prop of his generation playing for NSW and Aus schoolboys for a couple of years.
He played long, long minutes - even full games - and was very low mistake rate and very high workrate, but that was against kids his own age.

Last year he started as an 18 year old on the reserve grade bench, doing short minutes to get used to playing against men. It really took most of the season to build him up to decent minutes in seniors. Last game of the year he got a firstgrade debut and went into pre-season as a firstgrader.

This year he started on the bench and slowly built his minutes up till he became a starting prop.

Last night he played a pretty similar role to the role he played as a 17 year old for Australian Schoolboys in 2024 - long minutes, hard work in attack and defence, very few mistakes or bad decisions, holding the team together by making the hard runs and big tackles.

In 2025 he was 18/19 and was eased into seniors in reserve grade, only being asked to do the minutes he was ready for.

In 2026 he was 19/20 and was eased into firstgrade, only being asked to do the minutes he was ready for.

He is now ready to do the job in firstgrade he was doing in juniors 2 years ago.

In contrast, the Saifiti brothers were thrown into firstgrade as 19 year olds after never making rep sides and being pretty ordinary in Flegg the previous year, and they got beat up every week for about 2 years till they were finally able to compete against men.
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Hey @Billy, how far behind Hopwood are Hillier and Bates? Any chance they make a similar progression next season?
 
Thieves Like Us said:
Hey @Billy, how far behind Hopwood are Hillier and Bates? Any chance they make a similar progression next season?
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Hillier is the same age as Hopwood and was seen as better than Hopwood at Harold Mats level - but Hopwood grew tall and developed a big motor.
Hilliar and Hopwood used to make NSW sides together.
In short, Hopwood got the genes to be 6'5" with a big frame and not an ounce of fat, and Hilliar will need to hit the gym a lot - but I still think Hilliar is the smarter and more natural footballer.
 
They were comparable in Harold Matts a few years ago but Hilliar is now languishing in Jersey Flegg, which is like purgatory for NRL prospects. The good ones go straight to NSW Cup these days. Even with the huge injury toll in reserve grade mid season he still didn't get a run while they were calling on local league players. Wouldn't hold my breath on him.

We've got a few decent SG Ball and Harold Matts props but none the same calibre of Hopwood at the same age, and none will be on the NRL radar in the next year or two.
 
slotmachine said:
I was most impressed that he got belted in his first stint, but came back really strong. Never seems phased by that, did the same thing against the Raiders.
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He’s a warrior. Obviously a long way to go to get to that level but there was a little bit of Isaah Yeo about that second stint. The way that as the game wears on somehow he’s still running just as strongly and the combination of size & footwork means he’s seemingly making 15 metres with every run.
 
HarVeeGee13 said:
He’s a warrior. Obviously a long way to go to get to that level but there was a little bit of Isaah Yeo about that second stint. The way that as the game wears on somehow he’s still running just as strongly and the combination of size & footwork means he’s seemingly making 15 metres with every run.
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With an extra 10 kgs in the pre season, I think we have our new Chief right there.
Even in new NRL, there is a place for the big athletic prop, particularly with Cody’s motor.
 
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