[3][4] He won South Melbourne's "most improved player" award in 1938 and went on to play 111 league games for the club.

[7][8] A knee injury kept him on the sidelines in 1945 and he also wasn't able to play senior football the following year.

[9][10] His brother, Alf Hacker, played for fellow VFL club North Melbourne.

[3] Hacker was appointed playing coach of Hampden Football League club Camperdown in 1947 and led the team to the grand final, which they lost to Warrnambool.

[13] In 1949 he coached Shepparton to a premiership in the Central Goulburn Valley Football League.