From tears to cheers: Why Dana Hooker was screaming at her TV last Saturday

Dana Hooker never typically screams at her television, but last Saturday was an exception.

The West Coast midfielder sat on the couch with her daughters, nails digging into her hands as she anxiously watched the AFLW match between Sydney and Essendon.

The Eagles had lost to Carlton 24 hours earlier and needed the injury-hit Bombers to triumph against the Swans to sneak in for a maiden finals appearance.

Other Eagles players gathered at Amy Franklin’s home to watch the game, but Hooker opted to stay at home with her family.

“I’m usually very calm but it was such a close contest, I was hanging on very possession,” Hooker said. “Zara, my 10-month old was sitting on the floor, jumping every time I screamed.”

Hooker’s excitement had an extra edge – the 34-year-old midfielder recently announced her retirement, after playing 10 seasons in AFLW across two clubs.

In an emotional speech to her teammates before the Carlton game on Friday, Hooker said the prospect of West Coast finally making finals was something she had “desperately wanted” for a long time.

“Not many athletes get to have that fairytale ending to their career, but if we make finals, and go deep into finals, that will be it for me,” she said.

Despite tears from more than one Eagle after the siren on Friday night against Carlton, Hooker might get her fairytale ending after all. With Swans’ co-captain Chloe Molloy out of action due to injury,  Sydney stumbled and lost by three points to Essendon, ensuring West Coast would stay in the eight.

“I’d thought Friday night was my last ever game, so I was like hang on, I get the opportunity to run back out again and do the thing that I love so much,” Hooker said.

It’s a rewarding feat for Hooker and for West Coast – a club that finished 17th on the ladder in 2023 after notching just seven wins across their five seasons in AFLW.

In December that year, the club announced former Melbourne premiership captain Daisy Pearce as their senior coach, describing it as “one of the biggest recruiting coups of their history”.

Hooker said Pearce’s influence on the club had been incredible, highlighting the coach’s ability to “get the best out of every player”.

“She’s a great connector with her players and her people and she has high standards and she demands that of everyone,” Hooker said.

“Daisy’s just a wealth of knowledge,” she continued. “She sees the game really well, and she communicates extremely well in terms of when she’s got an idea and how she coaches it.”

As an inaugural player drafted in 2016, Hooker admitted it was difficult to pinpoint the proudest moment of her career. She was Fremantle’s first best-and-fairest winner in 2017, a dual -All-Australian and kicked the first goal for West Coast against Collingwood in their inaugural match.

Hooker’s children are also a pivotal part of her legacy. Hooker and her husband Mark Worthington have two daughters, nine-year-old Alice and 10-month-old Zara.

However, the decision to retire had been “bubbling away” at the back of her mind for a few years.

Her love of the game is still there and her body is intact, but Hooker is adamant she never wanted to “play past a point where I felt was no longer beneficial to the team”.

“It just feels like time for me to hand over to the next generation,” she said. “I’ll stay involved in football, not sure what that looks like just yet, but it just feels right.”

For now, Hooker was focused on Saturday’s elimination final against Carlton at Ikon Park, hoping to extend her footy dream for a few more games.

NORTH MELBOURNE
B: Libby Birch, Jasmine Ferguson
HB: Emma Kearney, Eliza Shannon, Erika O’Shea
C: Amy Smith, Ruby Tripodi, Taylah Gatt
HF: Alice O’Loughlin, Blaithin Bogue, Jenna Bruton
F: Tahlia Randall, Emma King
FOLL: Kim Rennie, Ash Riddell, Jasmine Garner
I/C: Kate Shierlaw, Bella Eddey, Tess Craven, Tessa Boyd, Vikki Wall
EMG: Ariana Hetherington, Amy Gavin Mangan, Ella Slocombe
IN: Vikki Wall, Kate Shierlaw
OUT: Ariana Hetherington (omitted), Amy Gavin Mangan (omitted)

HAWTHORN
B: Laura Elliott, Mackenzie Eardley
HB: Emily Everist, Jenna Richardson, Tilly Lucas-Rodd
C: Greta Bodey, Eliza West, Mikayla Williamson
HF: Keely Coyne, Najwa Allen, Aileen Gilroy
FF: Aine McDonagh, Nat Exon
FOLL: Jess Vukic, Laura Stone, Jasmine Fleming
I/C: Casey Sherriff, Grace Baba, Daisy Flockart , Tamara Smith, Kaitlyn Ashmore
EMG: Sophie Butterworth, Kristy Stratton, Hayley McLaughlin
IN: Jess Vukic
OUT: Elli Symonds (injured)

CARLTON
B: Gabriella Pound, Madeline Hendrie
HB: Ciara Fitzgerald, Harriet Cordner, Poppy Scholz
C: Yasmin Duursma, Abbie McKay, Dayna Finn
HF: Tara Bohanna, Sophie McKay, Erone Fitzpatrick
F: Darcy Vescio, Keeley Sherar
FOLL: Mimi Hill, Lily Goss, Jessica Good
I/C: Mia Austin, Brooke Vickers, Madeleine Guerin, Amelia Velardo, Breann Harrington
EMG: Lila Keck, Maddison Torpey, Siofra O’Connell
IN: Amelia Velardo, Mia Austin
OUT: Siofra O’Connell (omitted), Lila Keck (omitted)

WEST COAST
B: Georgie Cleaver, Emma Swanson
HB: Zoe Wakfer, Roxanne Roux, Charlotte Thomas
C: Jaide Britton, Isabella Lewis, Lauren Wakfer
HF: Charlotte Riggs, Dana Hooker, Kayla Dalgleish
F: Kellie Gibson, Lucia Painter
FOLL: Sarah Lakay, Jessica Rentsch, Ella Roberts
I/C: Sanne Bakker, Belinda Smith, Kayley Kavanagh, Abbygail Bushby, Amy Franklin
EMG: Lucy Boyd, Annabel Johnson, Liz McGrath
IN: Jessica Rentsch
OUT: Liz McGrath (omitted)

MELBOURNE
B: Saraid Taylor, Tahlia Gillard
HB: Denby Taylor, Sarah Lampard, Molly O’Hehir
C: Elizabeth McNamara, Tyla Hanks, Paxy Paxman
HF: Georgia Gall, Alyssa Bannan, Tayla Harris
FF: Eden Zanker, Ryleigh Wotherspoon
FOLL: Lauren Pearce, Shelley Heath, Kate Hore
I/C: Jemma Rigoni, Georgia Campbell, Blaithin Mackin, Megan Fitzsimon, Maggie Mahony
IN: Molly O’Hehir, Jemma Rigoni
OUT: Maeve Chaplin (hamstring), Laela Ebert.

BRISBANE LIONS
B: Jennifer Dunne, Shannon Campbell
HB: Jade Ellenger, Natalie Grider, Breanna Koenen
C: Sophie Conway, Alexandra Anderson, Orla O’Dwyer
HF: Ruby Svarc, Taylor Smith, Courtney Hodder
FF: Dakota Davidson, Charlotte Mullins
FOLL: Tahlia Hickie, Catherine Svarc, Isabel Dawes
I/C: Shanae Davison, Ellie Hampson, Neasa Dooley, Eleanor Hartill, Lily Postlethwaite
IN: Breanna Koenen
OUT: Sophie Peters (omitted)

ADELAIDE
B: Zoe Prowse, Chelsea Biddell
HB: Kiera Mueller, Sarah Allan, Kayleigh Cronin
C: Madison Newman, Anne Hatchard, Grace Kelly
HF: India Rasheed, Danielle Ponter, Teah Charlton
F: Caitlin Gould, Eloise Jones
FOLL: Jess Allan, Ebony Marinoff, Sarah Goodwin
I/C: Amy Boyle-Carr, Brooke Boileau, Keeley Kustermann, Chelsea Randall, Niamh Kelly
IN: Niamh Kelly, Chelsea Randall
OUT: Brooke Tonon, Stevie-Lee Thompson (both omitted)

ST KILDA
B: Paige Trudgeon, Nicola Stevens
HB: Alice Burke, Ella Friend, Serene Watson
C: Alana Gee, Tyanna Smith, Charlotte Baskaran
HF: J’Noemi Anderson, Jesse Wardlaw, Amber Clarke
F: Zoe Besanko, Hannah Priest
FOLL: Rene Caris, Georgia Patrikios, Jaimee Lambert
I/C: Darcy Guttridge, Kyla Forbes, Nicola Barr, Olivia Vesely, Charlotte Simpson
IN: Paige Trudgeon, Nicola Barr, Olivia Vesely
OUT: Arianna Clarke (omitted), Hannah Stuart, Natalie Plane.

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