A
wicket-keeper who was described as a "staunch" batsman and as "uncompromising" in his approach to batting, he moved to play for
Canterbury for the 1998–99 season. After five seasons he moved to
Otago for four seasons before finishing his domestic career playing for
Auckland between the 2007–08 and 2013–14 seasons. The team won the domestic
List A and
Twenty20 competitions during the 2010–11 season and Hopkins finished his career with over 350 top-level domestic appearances. Hopkins made his international debut in 2004, deputising for
Brendon McCullum as New Zealand's wicket-keeper in five One Day Internationals during the
tour of England. He spent much of his international career as McCullum's back-up, making his Test debut in 2008 following when McCullum was unable to play due to injury. Following a successful 2007–08 season he was awarded a central contract by
New Zealand Cricket and played most of his four Test matches, 25 ODIs and 10 T20Is over the following three seasons. "Ordinary" form in 2010–11 saw him dropped from the central contracts list and he did not represent the national team after the end of 2010. == Post-cricket career ==