Born in Urana, New South Wales,[3] Hacker was a defender who could play in the ruck was recruited from Oaklands in New South Wales.[4][5]
Hacker made his senior VFL debut for South Melbourne in 1937 and won South Melbourne's "most improved player" award in 1938, going on to play 111 league games for the club.[6][7] This included two finals in 1942, a semi final win over Footscray and preliminary final loss to Essendon.[8][9] A knee injury kept him on the sidelines in 1945 and he also wasn't able to play senior football the following year.[10][11]
While at South Melbourne, Hacker's rendition of Popeye was considered "as good as the original".[3]
He was captain-coach of Camperdown again in 1948, when they narrowly missed out on making another grand final, with a seven-point loss to South Warrnambool in the preliminary final.[14]
^Holmesby, Russell; Main, Jim (2007). The Encyclopedia Of AFL Footballers. BAS Publishing. ISBN9781920910785.
^ abBlake, J. "Who's Who in Football, no. 5., Sporting Globe (Melbourne), 18 May 1940, p. 6.
^ ab"South Completes "Hat-Trick"". Record (Emerald Hill). Emerald Hill, Vic. 7 August 1943. p. 3. Retrieved 5 January 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
^"Guide to South Football Prospects". Record (Emerald Hill). Emerald Hill, Vic. 13 March 1937. p. 4. Retrieved 5 January 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
^"Jack Hacker Refuses to Give in". Record (Emerald Hill). Emerald Hill, Vic. 8 September 1945. p. 1. Retrieved 5 January 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
^"Training Begins for South Footballers". Record (Emerald Hill). Emerald Hill, Vic. 8 March 1947. p. 1. Retrieved 5 January 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
