Hudson Smith 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. He played for Balmain,

Salford City Reds The Salford Red Devils are a professional rugby league club in Salford, Greater Manchester, England, who play in the Super League. Formed in 1873, they have won six Championships and one Challenge Cup. Their home ground since 2012 has been t ...

and Bradford Bulls.

Playing career

Smith made his first grade debut for Balmain in Round 1 1994 against North Sydney at

Leichhardt Oval Leichhardt Oval is a rugby league and soccer stadium in Lilyfield, New South Wales, Australia. It is currently one of three home grounds for the Wests Tigers National Rugby League (NRL) team, along with Campbelltown Stadium and Western Sydney S ...

. Smith made seven appearances for Balmain in his first season as the club finished last on the table claiming the wooden spoon. This was only the fourth time that Balmain had finished last on the table since entering the competition in 1908. In 1995 at the start of the Super League war, Balmain decided to change their name to the "Sydney Tigers" and move their home games to

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 ...

in a bid to appeal to a wider fan base. The change in name or venue didn't help the club's fortunes and they missed the finals in both their years at Parramatta. Smith would be a regular starter in the team over both seasons. In 1997, Balmain reverted to their former name and moved their home games back to

after the "Sydney Tigers" idea was deemed a failure. The club would go on to miss the finals by just 1 point in 1997. In Smith's final year at Balmain, the club finished a disappointing 13th place. In 1999, Smith joined Salford. That year, Salford managed to avoid relegation finishing 12th. In 2000, Smith joined Bradford and played in their semi-final loss against Wigan. Smith then returned to Australia and signed with Burleigh Heads in the Queensland competition. He later became captain-coach of Cobar who played in the Group 11 NSW competition.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Hudson 1972 births Living people Balmain Tigers players Bradford Bulls players Salford Red Devils players Australian rugby league players Rugby league locks Rugby league players from Sydney Rugby league second-rows