
Former judiciary frontman Merv Hoppner
After becoming firmly established in the Bayside and canvassed by Seagull representatives for the Brisbane Rugby League judiciary because of some decisions which were considered questionable, Merv Hoppner commenced an unbroken 21 year association with the judiciary. That, of course, was not a signal the Wynnum Manly players were to be given favorable treatment. But it was not all serious business, as Merv also explains.
“My wife Val and I are staunch Seagull supporters, but my decisions on the judiciary are carried out with complete impartiality and fairness.
“My aim always is to keep the interests of the game at heart.
“With the advent of TV the often unthankful job of referees has become much harder. “They get accused of bias, but I know a referee would not just send a player off for the sake of it. After all, the referee can cop a gruelling from the judiciary and he has to justify his sending off of a player .
“Justice must not only be done, it must be seen to be done.”
However, it has not all been serious business during the years Merv Hoppner has spent on the judiciary, and he recounted a number of humorous incidents, not all of which can be reproduced.
He recalled the time a Souths Fijian front rower was sent off for attacking the head of an opposing player. “He said he was just `fending’ him off and as the judiciary could see he had muscles in his eyebrows, we asked for a demonstration.
“At first he was going to demonstrate on me, but a sixth sense prompted me to suggest he use a wooden chair. With one stroke of his open hand he split the chair in two.”
But sporting friendships, regardless of the circumstances of their origin, often livelong. “Just the other day I was at the Redlands Cricketers Club and was welcomed by one well known local, no names – no pack drill, but he has a slightly bent nose and drives a fruit truck around the Shire.
“I reminded him of one previous meeting when he was too honest for his own good when ‘up’ for a head high tackle.
“I asked him at the hearing if the charges were true and he said, `Bloody oath, I would have killed him if I had been able to catch up with him’.
“We were then joined by the secretary manager of the club, a former Wynnum Manly frontrower who visited the judiciary a couple of times and had the belief no footballer is ever guilty, even though that is sometimes the official finding.”
Another incident was a real play on words. “An A Grade player cited for obscene language appeared before the judiciary and was very helpful and apologetic. He said a bad mistake had been made by the referee. All he reckoned he said to the referee when penalised for having his feet across the scrum was, ‘Look ref, you are mucking up a good game’.”
And with the season just underway, the following advice could be timely warning of his pet dislike, as Merv explains: “Players coming over the top of another player already on the ground, or dropping a set of knees on someone totally without defence is something I would like to see the referees more watchful of.”
The Hoppners have made a personal contribution to Wynnum Manly through their son Glen, who played all his junior football with the Seagulls and had the distinction of captaining the team. “When Glen led the team onto Lang Park, that was a very proud moment for Val and I” A transfer in his teaching profession robbed Glen of the chance to play in Wynnum’s premiership winning team in 1982, but Merv says his son’s interest in league has continued in conjunction with teaching. “Glen is presently coach of Keebra Park High School firsts on the Gold Coast and last season coached Queensland State Secondary Schools’ open team, a position he hopes to retain.
“He is also on the Queensland Rugby League coaching panel which coaches other coaches on the Gold Coast, which is his way of putting something back into the game.” In an ironical twist, Glen Hoppner was the first A grade player sent to the `sin bin’ when it was introduced in 1978. But being on the judiciary has not hindered Merv Hoppner when it comes to making friends through rugby league.
He said he can walk into Lang Park, or the bar, or other grounds and see many players who have ‘visited’ the judiciary at some time, from Fonda Metassa to Barry Muir to the players of today. “I was very pleased to see Barry Muir back in the game as coach. Muir was an outstanding footballer and still has much to offer the game. Kids look up to their stars and see themselves as a Barry Muir or a Wally Lewis.”
Probably Wally Lewis is a good example of the player’s fair acceptance of judiciary decisions. “A week or so after I handed down a suspension to Wally for some infringement, I was chairman at his 21st birthday party.
“You see, those blokes are top sportsmen and good ambassadors to the game of rugby league.” That also seems an apt way to describe the Merv Hoppner contribution to sport and the Bayside.
Story Source: The Redlands Times, 1986.
Photo Source: The Hoppner Family