Lee Hookey (born 6 April 1979) is an Australian former

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. Hookey played for South Sydney (twice) 1999, 2003–05,

St. George Illawarra Dragons The St. George Illawarra Dragons is an Australian professional rugby league football club, representing both the Illawarra and St George regions of New South Wales. The club has competed in the National Rugby League since 1999 after a joint-ve ...

2000–2002, and Penrith in 2006, playing at .

Background

Hookey was born in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

Career

Hookey made his first grade debut for South Sydney against Canterbury-Bankstown in round 1 1999 at the

Sydney Football Stadium The Sydney Football Stadium, commercially known as Allianz Stadium and previously Aussie Stadium, was a football stadium in Moore Park, Sydney, Australia. Built in 1988 next to the Sydney Cricket Ground, the stadium was Sydney's premier rect ...

. Hookey played in what was then South Sydney's last game as a club which was against the Parramatta Eels in round 26 1999 at

Parramatta Stadium Parramatta Stadium was a sports stadium in Parramatta, New South Wales, Australia, 23 kilometres west of Sydney's central business district. The stadium was the home ground of several western Sydney-based sports teams, at the time of closure t ...

. Following the conclusion of the

1999 NRL season The 1999 NRL season was the 92nd season of professional rugby league football in Australia, and the second to be run by the National Rugby League. With the exclusion of the Adelaide Rams and Gold Coast Chargers, and the joint venture of the St. Ge ...

, Souths were controversially excluded from the league as the

NRL The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...

had deemed the club did not meet the requirements for the new 14 team competition. In 2000, Hookey signed for St George and became a regular starter in the team. In the

2002 NRL season The 2002 NRL season was the 95th season of professional rugby league football in Australia and the fifth to be run by the National Rugby League. The season was affected by the competition-leading Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs' salary cap breach fi ...

, Hookey finished as the club's top try scorer with 18 tries. In 2003, Hookey rejoined South Sydney who were re-admitted to the competition the year prior. Hookey was one of the key players for South Sydney although the club struggled on the field finishing last in 2003 and 2004. In 2006, Hookey signed for Penrith and played 17 games for the club as they missed out on the finals. He retired in 2007.

References

External links

Lee Hookey Yesterdays Hero
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hookey, Lee 1979 births Living people Australian rugby league players Indigenous Australian rugby league players South Sydney Rabbitohs players St. George Illawarra Dragons players Penrith Panthers players Rugby league wingers Rugby league centres Rugby league players from Sydney