Tom Opacic

Tom Opacic (/oʊpətʃɪk/) (born 7 September 1994) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays as a centre for the Hull Kingston Rovers in the Betfred Super League.

Tom Opacic
Personal information
Full nameThomas Opacic[1]
Born (1994-09-07) 7 September 1994
Redcliffe, Queensland, Australia
Height183 cm (6 ft 0 in)
Weight100 kg (15 st 10 lb)
Playing information
PositionCentre
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2016–18 Brisbane Broncos 19 5 0 0 20
2019–20 North Qld Cowboys 24 9 0 0 36
2021–22 Parramatta Eels 40 14 0 0 56
2023– Hull Kingston Rovers 30 9 0 0 12
Total 113 37 0 0 124
Source: [2]
As of 16 September 2022

He previously played for the Brisbane Broncos, North Queensland Cowboys, and the Parramatta Eels in the National Rugby League.

Background

Opacic was born in Redcliffe, Queensland, Australia, and is of Serbian descent.[3]

He played his junior rugby league for the Redcliffe Dolphins.

Playing career

Early career
Opacic playing for the Broncos in 2014

In 2013 and 2014, Opacic played for the Brisbane Broncos' NYC team,[4] before graduating to their Queensland Cup team, and his old junior club, Redcliffe Dolphins in 2015.[5]

2016

In Round 16 of the 2016 NRL season, Opacic made his NRL debut for the Brisbane club against the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs.[6][7] In September, he re-signed with Brisbane on a two-year contract until the end of 2018.[8]

2017

Opacic failed to play a first grade game in 2017, after undergoing two shoulder reconstructions in the summer to treat injuries he suffered in the 2016 finals.[9] During Opacic's recovery, Tautau Moga became one of the first choice centres for Brisbane that year, relegating him to the Queensland Cup that season.

2018

The signing of Jack Bird, as well as the emergence of promising outside backs, Kotoni Staggs and Jamayne Isaako, meant that Opacic spent most of 2018 playing for the Redcliffe Dolphins in the Queensland Cup competition. He scored his only try for the season, coming off the bench in Brisbane's 24-20 win against their rivals, the North Queensland Cowboys, in Round 2.[10] Opacic appeared in 10 games for the Brisbane club in the 2018 season, starting in six and coming off the bench in four.[11]

On 8 August, Opacic re-signed with the Brisbane side on a two-year deal but a month later was released by the club to sign with the North Queensland Cowboys until the end of 2020.[12][13]

2019

In Round 1 of the 2019 NRL season, Opacic made his club debut for North Queensland in their 24–12 win over the St George Illawarra Dragons.[14] Following a Round 2 defeat by Brisbane, Opacic was dropped to the Townsville Blackhawks.[15] Opacic returned to first grade in North Queensland's Round 8 win over the Gold Coast Titans. A week later, he scored his first try for the club in a 16–32 loss to the South Sydney Rabbitohs.[16]

After his early struggles, Opacic locked down the right centre position for the North Queensland club, playing the remaining 17 games, scoring seven tries and forming a dynamic partnership with winger Kyle Feldt.[17]

2020

In February, Opacic was a member of the Cowboys' 2020 NRL Nines winning squad.[18] Opacic played just five NRL games in 2020, scoring two tries, struggling to hold down a starting centre position. On 3 October, the North Queensland club announced that Opacic would be departing the club at the end of the season.[19] On 21 October, it was announced that Opacic had signed a one year deal with the Parramatta Eels.

2021

He made his debut for Parramatta in round 1 of the 2021 NRL season where the club recorded a 24-16 victory over Brisbane.[20]

In round 4, he scored two tries for Parramatta in a 36-22 victory over the Wests Tigers at Stadium Australia.[21]

2022

Opacic started the season with Parramatta's NSW Cup team and scored four tries in the clubs 34-6 opening round victory over St. George. Following an injury to Sean Russell, Opacic was called into the NRL squad for the club's round 2 match against Cronulla.[22] On 10 August, Opacic signed a two-year deal to join English side Hull Kingston Rovers starting in 2023. In round 24, Opacic scored two tries for Parramatta in a 53-6 victory over Brisbane. Opacic played in Parramatta's opening two finals matches against Penrith and Canberra but suffered a hamstring injury during the clubs win over the latter opponent. Opacic subsequently missed Parramatta's upset preliminary final victory over North Queensland and the 2022 NRL Grand Final against Penrith which Parramatta lost 28-12. [23][24][25][26]

2023

Opacic made his club debut for Hull Kingston Rovers in round 1 of the 2023 Super League season as they upset Wigan 27-18.[27] On 12 August, Opacic played for Hull Kingston Rovers in their 17-16 golden point extra-time loss to Leigh in the Challenge Cup final.[28] Opacic played 26 games for Hull Kingston Rovers in the 2023 Super League season as the club finished fourth on the table and qualified for the playoffs. He played in the clubs semi-final loss against Wigan.[29]

Achievements and accolades

Team

Statistics

NRL
Statistics are correct to the end of the 2022 season[30]
Season Team Matches T G GK % F/G Pts
2016 Brisbane Broncos 940—016
2018 Brisbane Broncos 1010—04
2019 North Queensland Cowboys 1970—028
2020 North Queensland Cowboys 520—08
2021 Parramatta Eels 2170—012
2022 Parramatta Eels 1970—08
Career totals 83 28 0 — 0 112

References
  1. NRL (31 May 2016). "Intrust Super Cup teams: Round 13". QRL. Retrieved 25 June 2016.
  2. "Tom Opacic - Career Stats & Summary". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 3 July 2016.
  3. Badel, Peter (2 May 2015). "Brisbane Broncos rookie Tom Opacic wanted by Serbia for 2017 Rugby League World Cup bid". The Courier Mail. Couriermail.com.au. Retrieved 25 June 2016.
  4. "O". Nyc Database. 27 December 2012. Retrieved 25 June 2016.
  5. NRL (3 March 2015). "Intrust Super Cup Rd 1 teams". QRL. Retrieved 25 June 2016.
  6. "Updated team lists: Bulldogs v Broncos". NRL.com. 28 February 2016. Retrieved 25 June 2016.
  7. NRL. "Late Mail - Broncos v Bulldogs". Broncos. Retrieved 25 June 2016.
  8. Broncos.com.au (26 August 2016). "Broncos re-sign NRL rookies". Zero Tackle. Retrieved 15 September 2016.
  9. "Brisbane gun to miss 2017 NRL season start".
  10. "NRL highlights, result: Broncos vs Cowboys".
  11. "Custom Match List - Rugby League Project".
  12. "Why Broncos agreed to release Opacic to Cowboys". September 2018.
  13. "Four more signings for Cowboys". 11 October 2018.
  14. "NRL team list: Round 1 v Dragons". 12 March 2019.
  15. "League player knocked out by ex-NRL hooker blames king hit on himself". 2 April 2019.
  16. "Rabbits down the Cowboys, Roosters win to end Magic Round". ABC News. 12 May 2019.
  17. "Subscribe to the Townsville Bulletin".
  18. "Nines final team list: Final v Dragons". 15 February 2020.
  19. "Cowboys to farewell five departing players". NQ Cowboys. 3 October 2020.
  20. "Brisbane Broncos' NRL losing streak continues as Parramatta Eels score comeback 24-16 win; Newcastle Knights beat Bulldogs". ABC News. 12 March 2021.
  21. "Wests Tigers 22 Parramatta 36". ABC News. 5 April 2021.
  22. "Solution to Eels' injury crisis emerges; Raiders young gun puts pressure on Ricky: Reserves Wrap". www.foxsports.com.au.
  23. "Broncos' season 'on life support' after horror 113pt fortnight as Eels 'weapon' runs riot: Big hits". www.foxsports.com.au.
  24. "Tom Opacic joins Hull KR from Parramatta Eels for 2023". www.skysports.com.
  25. "We hate Parra as Panthers mock Eels as Koroisau pokes fun at Tigers". www.smh.com.au.
  26. "NRL Grand Final as it happened". www.theguardian.com.
  27. "Hull KR 27-18 Wigan: Shaun Kenny-Dowall scores first Super League hat-trick in Rovers win". www.bbc.co.uk.
  28. "Challenge Cup final: Hull KR 16-17 Leigh Leopards - Leigh claim first Wembley final win in 52 years". www.bbc.co.uk.
  29. "Relive Wigan's thumping win v Hull KR to head to Grand Final". www.bbc.co.uk.
  30. "Tom Opacic - Career Stats & Summary - Rugby League Project".
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