18 games into his career.
I have never seen a player do so many 1%er effort plays so consistently this early in a career - let alone starting in the Front Row at 20 years old when your two starting Props are injured.
He plays the game like a bloke who has made 150 NRL appearances and who had to squeeze out every last drop of his natural talent through hard work to get a start - that's not the case at all, he's a 6'5 athlete who has dominated at every junior level and isn't even close to developing into his physical potential - he's a rare case of elite mentality paired with natural talent.
Naturally, rookie errors such as the pass to Lucas with 4 mins to go are bound to happen - that play in itself, though not appropriately timed, shows the raw skillset he has to add to his efforts and physicality.
I've seen a few comparisons made for Hopwood but I've got a very niche one - Christian Welch.
Welch had the same lanky frame and built his game on effort plays, top-tier footy IQ, was among the games best offloaders and as tough as they come. Welch had a torrid run with injury/concussion that robbed him of multiple of his best seasons and plenty of rep jerseys but he was always Bellamy's favourite for a reason. I see Hopwood having a higher ceiling than Welch - emulating many of Welch's best characteristics with greater athleticism and a skillset that will eventually push him closer to the likes of Isaah Yeo.
Obligatory shoutout to POS for locking him down long-term before the NRL even got a look at him.
