Player Jerome Ropati

Jerome Ropati (born 23 November 1984) is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer who played his entire career for the New Zealand Warriors in the National Rugby League (NRL). Ropati also represented New Zealand, and was a member of the World Cup-winning team in 2008. He played as a centre, and occasionally as a fullback and five-eighth.

Ropati was born in Auckland, New Zealand.

Ropati is of Samoan descent and was educated at St Paul's College, a school noted for its rugby league teams.

Jerome Ropati's parents are Filipo and Rosa Ropati.

He is no relation to the famous Ropati rugby league family.

Ropati's junior club was the Marist Saints and he played for the Marist Richmond Brothers in the Bartercard Cup. It was his 2003 season in the Bartercard Cup that shot him to prominence, as he enjoyed a stellar season and led the club to the grand final. He missed the grand final, which the Brothers lost, because he was making his NRL debut for the Warriors.

In 2002 Ropati was named captain of the Junior Kiwis squad which played two games against touring Australian sides.

He made his first grade debut for the Warriors in round 25 of the 2003 season against the Sydney Roosters. When not selected for the first grade side, Ropati represented the Auckland Lions in both the Bartercard Cup and NSWRL Premier League. He was one of four players who played in every game for the Warriors in 2007.

He made his debut for the New Zealand national rugby league team in 2005 against Australia and was involved in the 2006 Tri Nations. He was a member of the 2008 World Cup winning Kiwis team, that defeated Australia in the Final, with Ropati scoring a try in the match.

In 2009 he extended his Warriors career until the 2012 season, becoming a 10-year Warrior. His 2011 season was ruined by injury as he tore his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in round 3. He retired during the 2014 season, following another injury.

After retirement, Ropati stayed working for the Warriors, becoming a community ambassador. For the 2017 season, Ropati was appointed an assistant coach to the club's Intrust Super Premiership NSW side. In 2018 he put the boots back on and has turned out for the Bay Roskill Vikings in the Sharman Cup, helping them to the Phelan Shield in an unbeaten regular season.

Ain't no party like a Ropati

He was one of our classiest centre's ever.

Jerome is still a building inspector for the Auckland Council as he was with our last update in 2023...

I probably shouldn't comment here right @miket12 ?

ShaunJohnson7 said:

I probably shouldn't comment here right @miket12 ?

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Those were the days. What really fucked me off was I did a tribute thread on his retirement and you still had to have a little dig at your mate Ropati lol.

Wouldn't someone like him at centre right now...

mt.wellington said:

Those were the days. What really fucked me off was I did a tribute thread on his retirement and you still had to have a little dig at your mate Ropati lol.

Wouldn't someone like him at centre right now...

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It's really good to hear from you if I'm being serious

They were the days.....I just wanted to go in and have a dig to annoy all the Ropati fans....like yourself.....his prime was good but he was selected on his rep for a long time after his knee injury.

Hope you are well mate.

ShaunJohnson7 said:

It's really good to hear from you if I'm being serious

They were the days.....I just wanted to go in and have a dig to annoy all the Ropati fans....like yourself.....his prime was good but he was selected on his rep for a long time after his knee injury.

Hope you are well mate.

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Yeah he was a world class centre in his days but those last couple consecutive ACLs he was a shadow of his former self. I was a huge fan and didnt want to see his legacy go down like that but you were right. Same can be said for some of our current backline but I wont start that here least it turn into a Manu Vatuvei V167.0 lol. I think half my time doing admin was cleaning up all the off topic Manu chat sheesh lol.

Still around but prefer to concentrate on projects like the update thread and profiles. I think the days of posting novels are over but you never know

Just to bring it back on track I'll share a little Ropati story.

I had his wife reach out to me about buying some of his match worn jerseys in about 2018. Said it was for a church fundraiser. I even met them both at their church to pick them up. A couple years later with covid around that same church decides to hold a big prayer service and it ends up being a super spreader event lol. When he says in his interview with Monty that he is doing a lot of church stuff he really means it.

Anyway, took the jerseys home, put one on the missus and proceeded to give her a jolly goo... joking joking joking...

ShaunJohnson7 said:

I probably shouldn't comment here right @miket12 ?

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I think I was one of the few who worked out you weren't as much against him as other thought you were.... then again, I think you trolled me on JRo as much as I trolled you about him.

mt.wellington said:

Yeah he was a world class centre in his days but those last couple consecutive ACLs he was a shadow of his former self. I was a huge fan and didnt want to see his legacy go down like that but you were right. Same can be said for some of our current backline but I wont start that here least it turn into a Manu Vatuvei V167.0 lol. I think half my time doing admin was cleaning up all the off topic Manu chat sheesh lol.

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One of the best ones was when Facefacts tried blaming a loss that didn't happen on Manu for a game when he was injured and didn't even play in.

miket12 said:

One of the best ones was when Facefacts tried blaming a loss that didn't happen on Manu for a game when he was injured and didn't even play in.

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I remember he used to refer to him as 'Dumb dumb'. Given the benefit of hindsight it's tough to argue with that now.

Ropati was a top player, plauged by injury