WHEN Trent Hodkinson pulled off his jersey mid-Origin last night and took a little shirtless stroll across Suncorp, the eyes of the nation were not looking at his six-pack.

“Wait, is that man wearing a bra?!” was a comment echoed through countless living rooms and households across the Eastern States.

Rugby league tragics collectively facepalmed as Origin newbies and their better halves wondered if the NSW half-back was wearing a crop top from Supre or a Lululemon Booby Bracer to keep his manboobs in check.

11yo sister was watching #origin upstairs and screamed down "WHY IS THAT MAN WEARING A BRA??" — Rachel W (@_rachelwang) May 28, 2014 Sub-type: comment CAPTION: 11yo sister was watching #origin upstairs and screamed down "WHY IS THAT MAN WEARING A BRA??"— Rachel W (@_rachelwang) May 28, 2014 Sub-type: comment CAPTION: 11yo sister was watching #origin upstairs and screamed down "WHY IS THAT MAN WEARING A BRA??"— Rachel W (@_rachelwang) May 28, 2014

Nice bra hodkinson 😉 tits out for the boys — Jess Wallace (@_jesswallace) May 28, 2014 Sub-type: comment CAPTION: Nice bra hodkinson tits out for the boys— Jess Wallace (@_jesswallace) May 28, 2014 Sub-type: comment CAPTION: Nice bra hodkinson tits out for the boys— Jess Wallace (@_jesswallace) May 28, 2014

Cute push up bra Hodkinson — Trenton Todd Woodley (@trentontws) May 28, 2014 Sub-type: comment CAPTION: Cute push up bra Hodkinson— Trenton Todd Woodley (@trentontws) May 28, 2014 Sub-type: comment CAPTION: Cute push up bra Hodkinson— Trenton Todd Woodley (@trentontws) May 28, 2014

Trent "my pecs are so big I have to wear a sports bra" Hodkinson. #StateOfOrigin — adam1975 (@adam1975) May 28, 2014 Sub-type: comment CAPTION: Trent "my pecs are so big I have to wear a sports bra" Hodkinson. #StateOfOrigin— adam1975 (@adam1975) May 28, 2014 Sub-type: comment CAPTION: Trent "my pecs are so big I have to wear a sports bra" Hodkinson. #StateOfOrigin— adam1975 (@adam1975) May 28, 2014

IS TRENT HODKINSON WEARING A SPORTS BRA WHY IS HE WEARING A SPORTS BRA — (@nialIhs) May 28, 2014 Sub-type: comment CAPTION: IS TRENT HODKINSON WEARING A SPORTS BRA WHY IS HE WEARING A SPORTS BRA— (@nialIhs) May 28, 2014 Sub-type: comment CAPTION: IS TRENT HODKINSON WEARING A SPORTS BRA WHY IS HE WEARING A SPORTS BRA— (@nialIhs) May 28, 2014

Wow Trent Hodkinson's wearing a bra. I've seen it all now! — Roger Bryant (@RogerBryantFOX) May 28, 2014 Sub-type: comment CAPTION: Wow Trent Hodkinson's wearing a bra. I've seen it all now!— Roger Bryant (@RogerBryantFOX) May 28, 2014 Sub-type: comment CAPTION: Wow Trent Hodkinson's wearing a bra. I've seen it all now!— Roger Bryant (@RogerBryantFOX) May 28, 2014

Glanced up to see the State of Origin and saw a footballer wearing a crop top. What's he trying to hold up? #soo — Wendy Lang (@wendylang) May 28, 2014 Sub-type: comment CAPTION: Glanced up to see the State of Origin and saw a footballer wearing a crop top. What's he trying to hold up? #soo— Wendy Lang (@wendylang) May 28, 2014 Sub-type: comment CAPTION: Glanced up to see the State of Origin and saw a footballer wearing a crop top. What's he trying to hold up? #soo— Wendy Lang (@wendylang) May 28, 2014

Is he about to do some yoga ?#StateOfOrigin #Hodkinson #croptop — Krystal Sanders (@krystalmsanders) May 28, 2014 Sub-type: comment CAPTION: Is he about to do some yoga ?#StateOfOrigin #Hodkinson #croptop— Krystal Sanders (@krystalmsanders) May 28, 2014 Sub-type: comment CAPTION: Is he about to do some yoga ?#StateOfOrigin #Hodkinson #croptop— Krystal Sanders (@krystalmsanders) May 28, 2014

While others rushed to his defence:

I bet Hodkinson looks better than most of you haters in a bra #thetruth — Superman (@seantofat) May 28, 2014 Sub-type: comment CAPTION: I bet Hodkinson looks better than most of you haters in a bra #thetruth— Superman (@seantofat) May 28, 2014 Sub-type: comment CAPTION: I bet Hodkinson looks better than most of you haters in a bra #thetruth— Superman (@seantofat) May 28, 2014

NRL aficionados knew that Hodkinson’s crop top was not in fact a support garment for “moobs”, but rather a sophisticated GPSports tracker.

And at $2000-$3000 each, it’s an expensive little garment at that.

Damien Hawes, International Sales Manager for GPSports, an Aussie company based in Canberra, told news.com.au that both the Blues and the Maroons, including Hodkinson, were wearing their devices last night.

“Basically, truth be told, it pretty much is a man bra,” Hawes laughed. “We call it the ‘bro’ because it came from a throwaway line in Seinfeld where George said he was going to get himself a women’s bra to hold up his man boobs up and he called it ‘the bro’.

“Essentially the vest holds a small player tracking unit that’s worn really tight under the jersey to quantify the demands of the game and that data is used as a benchmark for training and to dictate recovery protocols.

“The GPS unit used to be worn as a harness but the straps irritated athletes under the arm pit and caused chaffing, so the new design of the compression vest is much more comfortable and it actually sits really tightly along the spine to measure running symmetry.”





GPSports provides tracking vests to some of the biggest sporting teams in the world including NFL Superbowl Champions The Seattle Sea Hawks, UK Premier League teams Chelsea, Liverpool, Fulham, European Leagues teams Barcelona, Real Madrid as well as the Sydney Roosters and the Kangaroos.

The Wallabies ordered 50 units just yesterday.

Crop top or not, if even fashion conscious Sonny Bill Williams is prepared to don one, then they must be alright, Bra.