Jamil Hopoate, former bad boy and NRL forward for the Brisbane Broncos, has joined a new team for the remainder of the 2025 season.
Last playing in the NRL in 2018, Hopoate has signed with the Nygan Tigers - who compete in the Peter MacDonald Premiership - for the remainder of the 2025 season.
He previously played 12 matches during the 2020 NRL season with the Brisbane Broncos and comes from the famed 'Hopoate Family', with multiple members of his family playing either in the NRL or NRLW competitions.
NSW Police have cleared the signing.
"He's been in the media for the wrong reasons, but he's doing well now," the club's co-captain-coach James Tuitahi told The Newcastle Herald.
"Everyone has a past, but it seems like he's really making a positive change.
"There had to be meetings beforehand, and like any signing, it's about the bigger picture, and it's not just about footy. It's about the character of the people we're going to sign, which is a big thing for us.
"He's trying to turn his life around, he's got two kids, and hopefully he'll learn a bit from these fellas out here."
Hopoate's return to the field comes as he was released from prison in 2024 after he was convicted of transporting a large drug shipment from London to Sydney, where he was paid $10,000 to move cocaine, which has now been linked to an Irish cartel.
Before that incident saw him spend over 24 months in prison, he was jailed for a year for a drunken, unprovoked attack on a man outside a local pub in 2014 and was subsequently released by the Manly Sea Eagles.
"He brings a bit more experience, and it will just give confidence to the other boys," Tuitahi said.
"We definitely have the team (to play finals), it's just the injuries that have knocked us around.
"We're lucky we've had the numbers, but we haven't had the experience, so it's a massive boost to have Jamil on board."
