{"id":677136,"date":"2026-05-17T17:57:13","date_gmt":"2026-05-17T17:57:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/677136\/"},"modified":"2026-05-17T17:57:13","modified_gmt":"2026-05-17T17:57:13","slug":"nrl-2026-manly-star-lehi-hopoate-hit-with-ban-following-collision-with-referee-in-magic-round","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/677136\/","title":{"rendered":"NRL 2026: Manly star Lehi Hopoate hit with ban following collision with referee in Magic Round"},"content":{"rendered":"

Manly star Lehi Hopoate has been hit with a one-match suspension after colliding with the ref against the Tigers.<\/p>\n

The winger smashed into the back of official Grant Atkins midway through the first half.<\/p>\n

Watch every game of every round of the NRL Premiership LIVE with no ad-breaks during play on FOX LEAGUE, available on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.<\/a><\/p>\n

Atkins was sent bundling to the floor and almost got trampled on by Hopoate\u2019s teammates.<\/p>\n

He dusted himself down after getting back to his feet with Hopoate immediately apologising.<\/p>\n

The 21-year-old accidentally hit the ref as he prepared to make a tackle.<\/p>\n

However he was placed on report for making contact with the ref.<\/p>\n

And the NRL has now hit him with a one-match suspension – if he accepts an early plea.<\/p>\n

It is Hopoate\u2019s first offence of the season but some fans feel he is unlucky to have been punished, claiming the referee should not have been in the way.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was in the way heaps,\u201d wrote one fan.<\/p>\n

Another added: \u201cHe goes and makes a tackle afterwards but the ref tells him it\u2019s unnecessary, how about out of the way.\u201d<\/p>\n

And a third said: \u201cThe ref shouldn\u2019t be where he is.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite the setback, it was a Magic Round to remember for the Sea Eagles, who blew away their opposition 46-18.<\/p>\n

Manly have now conceded fewer than 20 points for seven consecutive matches, the first time they have achieved such a feat since 2008.<\/p>\n

Originally published as Manly star Lehi Hopoate hit with ban following collision with referee in Magic Round<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Manly star Lehi Hopoate has been hit with a one-match suspension after colliding with the ref against the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":677137,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-677136","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-nrl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/677136","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=677136"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/677136\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/677137"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=677136"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=677136"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=677136"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}