Hooper was born in Charleville to indigenous Australian parents whose ancestry is from the Kooma tribe, before later moving to Cunnamulla. Hooper lived in Ipswich as a teenager and attended the Bundamba State Secondary College. He spent some time in Melbourne in his late teens where he was first exposed to Aussie Rules by one of his sports coaches. He proved a talent and played some matches with the Dandenong Stingrays. Upon returning to Queensland he with the Ipswich Eagles where he first caught the eye of Brisbane Lions talent scouts. His dashes of blistering pace and ability to pick the ball up at full speed drew comparisons to the similar size and style of play of Melbourne Demons forward Aaron Davey, who had surprised the league a year earlier with the trailblazing defensive forward style.
AFL career
Picked at number 41 in the 2005 National Draft, Hooper took very little time to break into senior AFL level, with an exciting performance in the 2006 NAB Cup. He debuted in the Premiership season against Essendon showing plenty of pace, kicking a goal in his first game and racking up an impressive 7 tackles. His following performances were solid enough to guarantee his selection for several matches. In late January 2007, it was revealed by the Lions that Hooper had lost his enthusiasm for the work involved in being a professional football player. His former Coach Leigh Matthews stated that the club had been working with Hooper to resolve any issues but had stopped paying him wages in the interim. Hooper returned to the senior side with a renewed commitment in June 2007, returning in round 10. Among his highlights, season 2007 brought a 2007 AFL Army Award nomination in Round 10 for a match saving chase-down and tackle on Richmond's Matthew White, five crucial tackles against Melbourne in Round 15 and four goals against the Carlton Blues in Round 16. However a lowlight was Hooper's suspension by the league for striking Hawthorn player Rick Ladson in Round 19 which was increased to three matches after Hooper contested a two match ban. In December 2008, Hooper was suspended by the Lions for 58 days for several breaches to his playing contract including continually failing to attend pre-season training sessions. In early 2009, he was fined $40,000 for multiple breaches of his playing contract including a second failure to attend training following his first suspension. The AFL Players Association backed the club's penalty. His last Brisbane Coach, Michael Voss delisted him at the end of the season despite being under contract. In the 2009 National Draft, Hawthorn used pick 58 to snare Hooper. He would play six games for the Hawks and kick seven goals, showing sheer signs of brilliance, in particular in Round 22 against the Collingwood Magpies where he single-handedly kept Magpies game-breaker Dale Thomas to five disposals for the game. Hooper also kicked a very valuable goal in the final quarter as the Hawks won the game by three points. Despite the resurgence of his career, on 6 October 2010, Hawthorn announced Hooper had quit the club and returned home to Queensland to start a family. Hooper is now a senior player at the Springwood Pumas A.F.C south of Brisbane.
