- Albert Hopoate opened up about his ordeal with burns
- Football legend John’s son suffered a second-degree burn
- He says his wife stopped him from being “sooky”
The kitchen may be too hot for burns victim Albert Hopoate to handle, but the young NRL star feels much more at home on the field.
The 23-year-old Canberra player spoke on Wednesday about the second-degree burn he suffered after a spray bottle of olive oil left in an oil trap caught fire and exploded on his arm.
“There was nothing I could do except let it heal,” she said.
“The most important thing was to make sure he didn’t get infected.”
The centre credits his wife for his resurgence in the Raiders’ premiership side after returning to the team in Round 9.
“I was a little drunk and she kept me going,” Hopoate said.
“She told me to keep working hard and that’s the approach I try to take at the club every week.”
Canberra have now lost three games in a row after falling 16-6 to the Storm in Melbourne.
WARNING – GRAPHIC IMAGE BELOW
Albert Hopoate has revealed how he recovered from a horrific burn injury
The 23-year-old suffered a second-degree burn after a spray bottle of olive oil exploded.
The Raiders will be hoping to take advantage of home advantage when they take on Newcastle on Sunday afternoon.
Hopoate said the boys had focused on discipline during training.
“In training, every time we dropped a ball, we would do 20 burpees as a team,” he said.
“Just because when we make mistakes we all get punished and disappoint ourselves.”
Superstar fullback Kalyn Ponga will make his return to the Knights after 10 weeks on the sidelines with a foot injury.
Hopoate called Ponga the ‘Han Solo’ of the Knights team, but insists Canberra is ready.
“We just have to take that time away,” he said.
“We need to be aggressive.”
The Raiders’ NSW Cup side currently sit second in the standings and Ricky Stuart had no problem calling up scrum-half Adam Cook in a bid to bring new energy to the team.
It is only the second time in five years that Cook has been named in Canberra’s starting line-up, with his last appearance coming in Round 20 of 2020.
He said his wife (left) helped him get back on his feet and stop being “sooky.”
“Ricky talked to me and said he just wanted me to bring that confidence to the first grade,” Cook told reporters.
“Everyone has been very welcoming and yeah, it’s really good, they support me.”
Cook, who will start in the Raiders’ No. 7 jersey, said the club needed to get back to doing what they did best.
“Staying in the game, kicking in the corner and really hunting them down and bringing energy,” he said.
It’s a must-win Sunday for the Raiders, who are currently 12th in the standings and need to beat the Knights to keep their hopes of reaching the final alive.