- Emotional Hoopert recalls ‘long road’ after 708 days between games.
Hoopert’s club debut in Saturday’s 48-10 victory came after he sustained an ACL injury in October 2022 playing for Australia A, which saw him miss the entire 2023 season while on the Queensland Reds’ books.
The Toowoomba-born prop switched from the Reds to the Force in the off-season and looked on track with his recovery to be available for Round 1 in 2024 before a serious right knee ligament injury in an internal game in February delayed his return.
Those injuries meant Hoopert’s Round 12 Force debut was his first Super Rugby game since June 3 2022 for the Super Rugby quarter-final where the Reds lost 37-15 to the Crusaders.
Hoopert entered the fray on Saturday night in the 54th minute, moments before Michael Wells’ crucial try pushed the Force ahead 24-10.
The 25-year-old front-rower soon after enjoyed a good first carry, before winning a critical turnover to allow Ben Donaldson to slot a penalty for a 27-10 lead.
“It’s been a long road,” Hoopert told Stan Sport after the game. “Pretty emotional day for me.
“It’s over 18 months since I did my ACL. I came to the Force and got an injury in an internal trial game.
“I’m pretty grateful to be here, it’s a happy moment for me.”
Hoopert said there’d been some dark times in his long journey back to fitness but hailed the support of his girlfriend Shenae, along with close mate Hamish Stewart, with the pair’s friendship dating back to their youth in Queensland town Dalby, 200 kilometres west of Brisbane.
Indeed, it was Stewart who got the honour of presenting Hoopert with his Force cap after the game in the sheds in front of family, friends, coaches, staff and teammates.
“He’s been a massive part of me being successful over here at the moment,” Hoopert said.
“Through that last 12-13 weeks he was by my side all the time, making sure I was OK and a lot of that goes towards him.
“Obviously my girlfriend has played a massive part in where I am today. I cannot thank her enough for that.
Hoopert, who had a 100% tackle success rate on his debut, now has his sights set on helping the Force push for finals, sitting ninth after the Drua win only two points outside the top eight. “It’s been hard on the sidelines not being able to help the boys get a few wins,” he said. “Tonight was a great night for us, we’re going to build on that and try get into the finals.” The Force are next in action against the NSW Waratahs from 5:35pm WST at HBF Park. That game is also set to be Hoopert’s 50th in Super Rugby, marking a massive fortnight for the forward. Tickets are available for the Force-Tahs game via Ticketmaster, along with the Force’s Flexi Membership, with four tickets to any of the remaining two games for only $75.
