Jacob Hopper

Jacob Hopper (born 6 February 1997) is a professional Australian rules footballer for the Richmond Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL), having previously played for Greater Western Sydney.

Jacob Hopper
Hopper with Richmond in April 2025
Personal information
Full name	Jacob Hopper
Date of birth	(1997-02-06) 6 February 1997 (age 28)
Place of birth	Leeton, New South Wales
Original team(s)	North Ballarat Rebels (TAC Cup)/Leeton-Whitton (RFNL)
Draft	No. 7, 2015 national draft
Height	187 cm (6 ft 2 in)
Weight	88 kg (194 lb)
Position(s)	Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Richmond
Number	2
Playing career1
Years	Club	Games (Goals)
2016–2022	Greater Western Sydney	114 (42)
2023–	Richmond	039 (11)
Total		153 (53)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of round 11, 2025 season.
Career highlights
AFL Rising Star nominee: 2016 Brett Kirk Medal: 2019
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Early life

Hopper was born in New South Wales^[1] and grew up in the small Riverina town of Leeton.^[2] He began playing football at the age of four with the Leeton-Whitton Crows where his father coached. He joined Greater Western Sydney's academy program at the age of 13^[3] and regularly gained selection for NSW representative teams in the years that followed. He attended school at St Francis de Sales Regional College.^[4] At the age of 17, he began boarding at St Patrick's College, Ballarat^[5] while playing TAC Cup football for the North Ballarat Rebels.^[6]

He was recruited by the Greater Western Sydney Giants with the seventh overall selection in the 2015 national draft.^[7]

AFL career

Hopper made his debut in round 8 of the 2016 AFL season, in a 91-point win against Gold Coast at Spotless Stadium. He was rewarded with a nomination for the 2016 AFL Rising Star,^[8] after he collected 32 disposals equaling the AFL record (since 1992) for most disposals made on debut (Brisbane Lion Bradd Dalziell's 32 in 2008 the previous highest). and nine clearances.^[9][10]

At the conclusion of the 2022 AFL season, Hopper requested a trade to Richmond.^[11] He was traded on 11 October.^[12]

Statistics

Statistics are correct to the end of Round 23 2022^[13]

Legend

G	Goals	K	Kicks	D	Disposals	T	Tackles
B	Behinds	H	Handballs	M	Marks

Season	Team	No.	Games	Totals							Averages (per game)							Votes
				G	B	K	H	D	M	T	G	B	K	H	D	M	T
2016	Greater Western Sydney	2	10	5	3	65	107	172	32	33	0.5	0.3	6.5	10.7	17.2	3.2	3.3	0
2017	Greater Western Sydney	2	13	4	4	89	133	222	35	73	0.3	0.3	6.9	10.2	17.1	2.7	5.6	0
2018	Greater Western Sydney	2	21	10	14	214	227	441	55	98	0.5	0.7	10.2	10.8	21.0	2.6	4.7	0
2019	Greater Western Sydney	2	23	10	11	303	296	599	73	95	0.4	0.5	13.2	12.9	26.0	3.2	4.1	1
2020[a]	Greater Western Sydney	2	17	1	7	159	168	327	40	71	0.1	0.4	9.4	9.9	19.2	2.4	4.2	4
2021	Greater Western Sydney	2	23	10	7	311	296	607	72	88	0.4	0.3	13.5	12.9	26.4	3.1	3.8	15
2022	Greater Western Sydney	2	7	2	1	57	78	135	20	21	0.2	0.1	8.1	11.1	19.2	2.8	3.0	0
Career			114	42	47	1198	1305	2503	327	479	0.3	0.4	10.5	11.4	21.9	2.8	4.2	20

Notes

1. The 2020 season was played with 17 home-and-away matches per team (down from 22) and 16-minute quarters with time on (down from 20-minute quarters with time on) due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Honours and achievements

• Greater Western Sydney Giants Academy Player Of The Year: 2015
• 2016 AFL Rising Star: nominee
• Greater Western Sydney Giants Rising Star: 2016
• Brett Kirk Medal: 2019