Hooker is one of thepositions in arugby league football team. Usually wearing jersey or shirt number 9, the hooker is one of the team's forwards. Duringscrums the hooker plays in the front row, and the position's name comes from their role of 'hooking' or 'raking' the ball back with the foot.[5] For this reason the hooker is sometimes referred to in Australia as therake.[6]Hookers have a great deal of contact with the ball, as they usually play the role of acting halfback ordummy half, picking the ball up from theplay-the-ball that follows atackle.[7] Hookers therefore have much responsibility in that they then decide what to do with the ball,[8] whether that be to pass it (and to whom), run with it, or occasionally to kick it. Therefore, together with the two halves andfullback, hooker is one of the four key positions that make up what is sometimes called a team's 'spine'.[9] A trend of halves converting into hookers followed the introduction of the 10 metre rule,[10] and many players have switched between these positions in their careers such asGeoff Toovey,Andrew Johns,Craig Gower andPeter Wallace.
Thelaws of rugby league state that the hooker is to wear the number 9.[11] However, in some leagues such asSuper League, shirt numbers do not have to conform to this system.
One book published in 1996 stated that in senior rugby league, the hooker andstand-off/five-eighth handled the ball more often than any other position.[12] In the2013 NRL season, the six players with the most tackles were all hookers.[13]
Hookers that feature in their nations' rugby league halls of fame are New Zealand'sJock Butterfield and Australia'sKen Kearney,Sandy Pearce,Cameron Smith andNoel Kelly. The most-capped British international hooker was Wales'Tommy Harris.[14]