While Panthers fans will be watching replays of last week’s grand final long into the offseason, most Eels supporters will simply want to forget Sunday’s blowout loss.
But even if it may not be much of a consolation right now, Parramatta did score one win earlier in the day.
J’Maine Hopgood has long been earmarked as a future first-grader, having starred in Penrith’s pathways system since the Hervey Bay Seagulls junior made the move from Queensland.
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But with just nine NRL appearances to his name, Hopgood made the difficult decision earlier in the year to sign with Western Sydney rivals Parramatta on a two-year deal.
And on Sunday, Hopgood was crowned man-of-the-match after Penrith’s 44-10 win over North Devils in the State Championship, scoring two tries to go with 168 metres and 44 tackles.
Speaking to foxsports.com.au in the sheds late on Sunday night, a candid Hopgood said he walked out of a meeting with Eels coach Brad Arthur earlier in the year “pretty confident” in the direction his new team is heading.
“Brad’s really good, he’s straight up and down, tells you how it is and I just walked out of that conversation pretty confident and I felt like that was probably the right decision for me going forward,” he said.
“Everyone I spoke to has come back and told me that it’s probably the right thing to do. That makes me feel good about this decision.”
That is not to say it was an easy call by any means for Hopgood, who first joined the Panthers in 2017 and was upgraded to the club’s top 30 roster last year.
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“It’s just opportunity-based,” he said.
“That’s just pretty much all it was. Just sitting behind Yeoy [Isaah Yeo] here, who is the best lock in the game, it’s sort of been a blessing in disguise having him and sitting behind him and being able to learn off him.
“I’ve been able to put a couple of things in my kit bag, which I think I can take with me somewhere else. You never want to leave a successful club, but at the end of the day you want to play first grade, your career is only so long so that was the main reason.”
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Panthers coach Ivan Cleary admitted the club is “going to miss” Hopgood, who he described as a “whole-hearted” player who is “aggressive, talented and competes on every play”.
“You’re getting a person that’s going to turn up,” added teammate Scott Sorensen.
“You’re getting a person that’s going to work hard and a winner and competitor.
“I absolutely love Mainey, it’s sad to see him go but he’s got to chase his opportunities and he’s been terrific for us all year. He doesn’t complain or whinge about anything, he just wants to win, play and compete.”
Hopgood said he was “probably a bit more emotional” the week before, when he captained the Panthers to premiership glory in the NSW Cup but still admitted the reality of leaving “hasn’t really hit”.
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“I think we’ve still got a few good days together and I don’t think it’ll be until I’m packing my bags and packing my locker up that I think it’ll sort of hit me a bit more,” he said.
“I’m just keen to enjoy the night and a couple of days with the boys and we all deserve it. It’s been such a good year for everyone. There may be a couple of individual DnMs with a few of the boys and maybe a few tears will flow but nothing much, I don’t want to take the spotlight or anything.
“I’ve got some really good mates in this team. Mitch Kenny is one that I’ve been with coming through. He’s a year older than me but we played 20s together, Cup together and we’re good mates off the field. I’m going to miss having him around every day but I know I’m only going to be living around the corner and I’ll be seeing plenty of their faces anyway.”
It is not like Hopgood is going from a premiership contender to one of the league’s strugglers anyway, with Parramatta still tipped to be in the title hunt next season even with Isaiah Papali’i and Reed Mahoney among others exiting.
“They obviously had a good run there at the back-end of the year and it was awesome to see them in the grand final,” Hopgood added.
“Hopefully we can get back there again next year when I’m there, we’ll just see what happens.”
