[5] In 1988 he first made state selection for New South Wales as stroke of the youth eight which won the Noel Wilkinson Trophy at the Interstate Regatta within the Australian Rowing Championships.

Following his return to Australia Hooker made the 1995 New South Wales men's eight contesting the King's Cup at the Interstate Regatta.

[10] That same year he was Australia's single scull entrant at the Junior World Rowing Championships in Cologne where he won the bronze medal.

[10] He made the Australian senior representative squad after his study years in the US and was selected in 1994 in the coxless four which raced at the World Championships in Indianapolis to an eleventh placing.

The crew was composed of diverse rowers from four states and was coached by Tim McLaren who also had responsibility for Australia's lightweight double scull.

In his early career he was investment officer at the Asian Infrastructure Fund in Hong Kong and a business analyst on the China desk at Price Waterhouse.