Eels Blogs

When I heard Hopoate signed for the eels to play following his 2 year hiatus, I had no opinion on it except some reservations about whether the 2 years away would impact his game. I do think it did, at least while he played for us.

Part of the agreement was that the club would provide a monitoring of him through a fitness & checking program, which was carried out & he did not get any other renumeration from the club as it would have been included in the clubs cap.

His time with the eels was very much underwhelming, & certainly did not get anywhere near the way he played prior to the time away.  So far this year with the dogs, he has shown what he can do, especially in the #1 shirt which he was abysmal in when at the eels.

In the latest saga with the court case, rather than play the man & subject him to a lot of the comments made about him & his faith, I am pleased that his game has shown what it can be, but not shown while playing here, disappointed for us, you betcha.

The contract drama, is being played out with the media really lifting things especially with the cap & investigation drama's also going on ATM.  The NRL has been in some respects very quiet on this, saying that they are investigating but no doubt doing hands wash re the Hoppa - Eels contract, however I believe they need to come out & say what would have happened had the Eels attempted to register the contract with them.

For some time now, the NRL has refused to register player contracts for various reasons, including if they find the contract will place the club over the cap, the NRL has insisted that the contract has to be fixed so the cap is not breached, it may have meant that more backending of the contract or shedding other players, even though the club would have had to pay for some parts of them.

Hoppa signed the contract, & on that score he thought/believed that he was staying, that has not happened, what he now gets in an action against the club, would no doubt have not been played out in the media if it was some of the other clubs rather than the eels, a case in point being the move of James Roberts to the Bronco's, which I believe is worse than what we see here, forging a persons signature is criminal, the Hoppa contract was dumb simple as that, likely the club was dumb in employing that particular CEO.

There is no doubt Hoppa was counting on that higher money he thought he would have here, & just the same no doubt he is on far less money at the dogs, who knows if part reason was the No Sunday playing issue as well, which could have reduced his money.  Thing would be, if such a clause is found in his contract with the dogs, the NRL has again been silent on that as well.  The Eels are said to have refused that ideal when the contract was being negotiated, maybe a disputed area but I can remember it was raised in a media article last year, nothing came of it though.

What, if any sort of compensation Hoppa expects should also be something the NRL needs to consider as well, if the contract was in conflict with the cap, they need to say so, certainly the amount of breach should not be part of the claim, likewise any reduction in his present dogs contract for non Sunday games should not be considered either.

The club could also remind Hoppa (even if its in the past) of the cost to the club in providing the checks & fitness program they monitored for him while out of the game. Which should also be part of any settlement discussion.

Some say his actions is not Christian, maybe it sits on the edge of Christian Ethics, but to make such an allegation, one should actually have an idea what a Christian is, rather than an imagined one. Same with the use of the word Religion, which has many interpretations & the vast majority being not associated with perceived religion.