Moment Eels star J’maine Hopgood drops the shoulder in his club captain Clint Gutherson during Origin – as fans embrace the ‘mate against mate’ clash
- Parramatta teammates collided in the tunnel
- Gutherson only got three minutes of action
- Hopgood is part of extended squad, did not play
Parramatta stars Clint Gutherson and J’maine Hopgood proved that the old State of Origin slogan of ‘state against state, measure against measure’ is alive and well as they clashed in the Blues’ victory at half-time on Wednesday night.
Hopgood – who was part of the expanded Queensland squad but did not play – was caught on camera dropping his shoulder against his club captain, who only made it onto the field for the Blues in the final stages of the game.
The Eels lock stepped into Gutherson’s path as he walked through the tunnel at halftime, making solid contact and knocking him left before shouting a cheeky grin.
Parramatta fans had a field day on social media after seeing the footage.
Hopgood (right) dropped his shoulder to Gutherson (back to camera) as he walked through the tunnel at half-time on Wednesday night
The Eels skipper (seen tackling Xavier Coates in game three) was knocked sideways by the impact of his club teammate
“It’s mate against mate, he’s not there so that’s the only chance he gets to give it to his club captain,” one wrote.
‘Take it easy! They are buddies playing on opposite sides. It’s back to business at the weekend,” added another.
“Hopgood had a smile on his face as he was just urging Gutho lol,” a third wrote.
Gutherson featured just three minutes into the win, coming on for winger Josh Addo-Carr when he appeared to injure his hamstring shortly before full-time.
That led some fans to joke that the two pitch invaders who briefly interrupted the game had more playing time than the Eels skipper.
Hopgood has still not made it onto the field for the Maroons after playing for Queensland’s under-18 and under-20 sides.
“As 19th man in this camp I’m just looking forward to getting the experience and, hopefully on the track, putting on the jersey and running with the guys out there,” he said shortly after being selected in the extensive selection.
Hopgood got one step closer to his dream of playing for the Maroons when he made the extended squad – and hitting a Blues star without even taking the field won’t hurt his chances of seeing some Origin action doing
Gutherson got just three minutes of playing time in the Blues’ 24-10 victory, with some fans joking that even the field invaders saw more of the pitch
Giving a Blues star a shoulder strike without even taking the field is unlikely to hurt his chances.
The clash brought back memories of another famous Origin incident between two Parramatta stars.
Maroons skipper Arthur Beetson famously defeated his NSW rival and Eels teammate Mick Cronin in the first ever Origin game at Lang Park in 1980, the hit entering footy folklore and playing a big part in making it a success making the new interstate concept.
Fast-forward to the 1990s and Canberra Raiders stars Mal Meninga and Steve Walters (Queensland) regularly clashed with Laurie Daley, Ricky Stuart, Bard Clyde and Brett Mullins (NSW) in fights between the Cockroaches and Cane Toads.