Parramatta Eels’ $162 million pithcer is collapsing after red-hot…

J’maine Hopgood has been ruled out for the season after undergoing lower back surgery in another blow to Parramatta’s underwhelming NRL campaign. The Eels and Maroons forward hasn’t played since backing up for his club in Round 14 just five days after making his State of Origin debut for Queensland in the series opener.

A big shot from NSW’s Liam Martin inflamed his pre-existing back injury during the Origin series opener earlier this month. The lock forward played restricted minutes in the loss to Canterbury five days after his Origin debut and hasn’t featured in the NRL since.

Hopgood pulled up sore before the Eels’ most recent game against the Sydney Roosters and was sent to see a specialist who deemed surgery to be the best course of action. Hopgood has since undergone a microdiscectomy – surgery to remove the bulging part of a disc – to fix sciatic pain aggravated in the Maroons’ Game 1 win.