Hooker (rugby league)

Hooker is one of the positions in a rugby league football team. Usually wearing jersey number 9, the hooker is one of the team's forwards. During scrums 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.[1] For this reason the hooker is sometimes referred to as the rake.[2]

Hookers such as Anthony Mitchell usually perform the role of "dummy half", picking the ball up to start play following a play-the-ball.

Hookers have a great deal of contact with the ball, as they usually play the role of acting halfback or dummy half, picking the ball up from the play-the-ball that follows a tackle.[3] Hookers therefore have much responsibility in that they then decide what to do with the ball,[4] whether that be to pass it (and to whom), run with it, or occasionally to kick it. Therefore, together with the two half backs and fullback, hooker is one of the four key positions that make up what is sometimes called a team's 'spine'.[5] A trend of halfbacks converting into hookers followed the introduction of the 10 metre rule,[6] and many players have switched between these positions in their careers such as Geoff Toovey, Andrew Johns, Craig Gower and Peter Wallace.

The laws of rugby league state that the hooker is to be numbered 9.[7] However, in some leagues, such as Super League, players can wear jersey numbers which do not have to conform to this system.

One book published in 1996 stated that in senior rugby league, the hooker and stand-off/five-eighth handled the ball more often than any other position.[8] In the 2013 NRL season the top six players with the most tackles were all hookers.[9]

Notable hookers

Hookers that feature in their nations' rugby league halls of fame are New Zealand's Jock Butterfield and Australia's Ken Kearney, Sandy Pearce, Cameron Smith and Noel Kelly. The most-capped British international hooker was Wales' Tommy Harris.[10]

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See also

References
  1. news.bbc.co.uk. "When is a scrum formed?". Rugby League: Laws & Equipment. BBC Sport. Retrieved 12 July 2012.
  2. Garry, Chris (17 July 2013). "State of Origin to decide the game's best hooker". The Courier-Mail. Retrieved 21 July 2013.
  3. Hadfield, Dave (22 January 1994). "Russell is hooked by hooking". The Independent. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
  4. news.bbc.co.uk. "Positions guide: Hooker". Rugby league: Laws & Equipment. BBC Sport. Retrieved 11 July 2012.
  5. Read, Brent (11 February 2012). "Coach Tim Sheens yet to crack Wests Tigers' backbone". The Australian. Retrieved 11 July 2012.
  6. Reilly, Thomas (1997). Science and Football III. Wales: Taylor & Francis. p. 13. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
  7. The International Laws of the Game and Notes of the Laws (PDF). RLIF. 2007. p. 9. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-11-14. Retrieved 2012-07-28.
  8. Tim Rogers and Richard Beesley (2006). Fitness for Rugby League (PDF). Australia: coachrugbyleague.com.au. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-10-21. Retrieved 2012-07-12.
  9. "NRL 2013 Player Stats". The Sydney Morning Herald. 14 September 2013. Retrieved 14 September 2013.
  10. "Wales rugby league legend dies". News Wales. 3 October 2006. Retrieved 5 November 2012.
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