Born: 16 October, 1887 – New Plymouth Died: 6 December, 1967 – New Plymouth Test record: 2 Tests (1909) – 0 points Tours: 1909 tour of Australia
Taranaki outside back Gordon ‘Babe’ Hooker played two Tests on New Zealand’s 1909 tour of Australia, staying on across the Tasman and representing Queensland for three years.
A track runner who played in Taranaki’s pioneering 1908 rugby league fixtures, Hooker earned a place in the New Zealand touring party the following season and put his pace to good use in seven of the team’s 10 matches.
The 21-year-old featured on the wing in the opening two Test matches against Australia, while a hat-trick of tries in a 40-25 win over Queensland was a precursor to Hooker making his visit to the Sunshine State semi-permanent.
Hooker scored two tries for Fortitude Valley against South Brisbane in the inaugural BRL premiership final just weeks after the New Zealanders’ tour concluded. He debuted for Queensland in a historic clash with England in 1910 before scoring three tries in the first match of that year’s interstate series against NSW.
By the end of 1912, he had represented Queensland in a further seven matches against NSW and in four games against touring New Zealand teams.
Hooker returned home and played in Taranaki’s 43-11 loss to the touring England side in 1914, while he was instrumental to re-establishing the code in the province during the 1930s. The rugby league pioneer passed away in New Plymouth in 1967, aged 80, and was named as a winger in the Taranaki Rugby League Team of the Century in 2008.
