Today, I was fortunate to catch up with Reds Prop Harry Hoopert during team training. Harry is recovering from a knee injury at the moment and as well as chatting about his rehab, I asked him about his time at Ballymore so far, his experience with “Australia A” last year and a few other things.
We had an awesome conversation. I hope you enjoy reading it!
What have you loved most about being here at Ballymore so far over the years?
I know that in many ways, rehab’s not fun… But what have you been learning in the midst of it?
I’d say the main learning point is overcoming the adversity of being injured. It’s a totally different mindset to being on the field. You’ve got to try and control your emotions and get through that hard point, when you’re in that dark space, when your injuries not going in the right direction. I’d say probably the last two months has been in that hard spot for me, when I’m trying to get onto the field for running and a couple of little set-backs just keep me back from running. So I’d say adversity, going from playing on the field getting into rehab has been a big step for me. I’ve learnt a lot over the last four months about myself and about how I can get better as a player as well.
What you have been up to during your down time?
On my off-time, I love my golf. I think I was playing off “seven” before I got injured, and the last two months, I’m down to “three” now. I love my golf.
Also, I’m trying to look for work after footy, so I’ve been trying to organise meetings with a few different companies and get some work experience, so I can figure out what I want to do after footy.
What did you enjoy most about being a part of the “Australia A” squad last year?
I learnt a lot of different things that I need to work on for my game - aspects from another coach, Jason Gilmore. He was here when I was in the Under-20s, with the academy, when we went back-to-back. So it was good to be with him again, he’s given me a lot of things to work on, such as the work-rate around the defence, getting back on the line, getting more technical with my tackling, that’s probably my biggest thing to work on I’d say. And obviously, playing with blokes that have different strengths to me, I got to learn off them and make myself better as a player.
It must have been good to have so many Reds boys in that squad.
Yes, definitely! We had 7 or 8 boys there from the Queensland Reds. I wouldn’t say we stuck together as a group, but we made ourselves pretty comfortable. We made a few different friendships, throughout the Aus-A. Me and Hamish have obviously been together since we were 10 or 12 years old, so it was good having him there as well.
Brothers is your rugby club here in Brisbane. Did you enjoy getting to put the club uniform on, before the Australia A call up?
Yes, definitely. Brothers was one of the first to reach out to me when I first left school, they billeted me out to a family and got me pretty stable in Brisbane, I’d obviously never lived here before. It’s always great going down to Brothers and playing with a few of the young fellas - they have an exciting game. I feel like it’s a bit more relaxing playing club footy, you can play your own game and have some fun.
I was with you and the team for the pre-season Waratahs game in Dalby, back in 2020. How did you find heading back to your home town with your team mates, back then?
Yeah, that was a great experience. So we got our whole team out to our family home on the farm, we did a big cook-up, I think it was about 60 or 70 people all up. We put on a big spread, including briskets, steaks… we have a little tradition in our family, our backgrounds German and we make “wursts” [German sausages] every winter, so we brought that out and gave them a taste of our heritage.
It was really exciting for our town, we’ve never had that before. We had a good crowd there and I’m pretty sure we got the win too, which was great.
When do you think you’ll be suiting up again in my favourite colour?
Hopefully, I’ll be back next year. But this year for me, I’m just trying to get in the Brothers club finals, that’s my aim.
We’ll definitely be in the finals by the way.
I like to ask everyone this one - what’s your favourite post-game meal?
I probably shouldn’t be saying this, but I’d say the old Macca’s double Quarter-Pounder. (Laughs.) It’s pretty hard one to go by when you’re down at Suncorp, the Macca’s is just down the road.
Yes, definitely! Thanks for the chat, really appreciate it. Good to be on the blog, can’t wait to read it!
The Reds kick off against the Fijian Drua at Suncorp Stadium, this Sunday at 3pm!