Mark Stephen Hughes (born 6 August 1954) is an English-born Australian former professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

footballer who played for

Canterbury-Bankstown Canterbury-Bankstown is a customary region of Sydney, Australia, in Inner South-Western Sydney. The region is located to the north of the St George region (from which it is separated by Wolli Creek) and to the south of the Inner West region ...

in the 1970s and 1980s. He mostly played , but he also spent time playing and . He is the brother of Garry Hughes and

Graeme Hughes Graeme Christopher Hughes (born 6 December 1955) is an Australian sportsman turned broadcaster. He is the last man to have played both rugby league and cricket for New South Wales. His father Noel Hughes played cricket for Worcestershire in th ...

, and the uncle of

Corey Hughes Corey Hughes (born 17 February 1978) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. A City New South Wales rugby league team, City New South Wales representative , he played in the National Rugby ...

Glen Hughes Glen Hughes is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. He played for Canterbury-Bankstown as a and , winning the 1995 ARL Premiership with them, also scoring a try in that match. Backgr ...

and

Steven Hughes Steven Jay Hughes (February 12, 1954 – February 18, 2000) was an American artist for the Chaos! Comics company. Hughes provided the art for many of the company's comics, including ''Lady Death'', '' Evil Ernie'', and the short-lived superhero ...

Playing career

The second eldest of the Hughes brothers to play with Sydney club

during the 1970s. He competed with his brother Garry for the top pivotal role before moving to the centres. Hughes played in his sides' 19-4 loss to Eastern Suburbs in the

1974 NSWRFL season The 1974 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the 67th season of Sydney's professional rugby league football competition, Australia's first. Twelve teams, including six of 1908's foundation clubs and another six from across Sydn ...

's grand final. He went on to establish a reputation as a fine centre and lock with a good step and swerve. Under the coaching of

Ted Glossop Ted Glossop (1934 – 31 December 1998) was an Australian rugby league footballer and coach. Playing career He played for the St. George Dragons for eight seasons between 1950 and 1958 and played 115 games for the club scoring 17 tries. H ...

, he was a key member of Canterbury's "Entertainers" era playing reserve in the 1979 grand final loss to

St. George Saint George (;Geʽez: ጊዮርጊስ, , ka, გიორგი, , , died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was an early Christian martyr who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to holy tradition, he was a soldier in the ...

, but after playing every game in the 1980 season, he was back at lock in Canterbury's historic 1980 premiership win over Eastern Suburbs at the

Sydney Cricket Ground The Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) is a sports stadium in the Moore Park, New South Wales, Moore Park suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is used for Test cricket, Test, One Day International and Twenty20 cricket, as well as, Australi ...

. It was Canterbury's first premiership win since 1942. In 1981, injuries impacted on the team severely and Hughes played five-eighth on several occasions. He captained Canterbury on six occasions, twice in 1981, and four times in 1982. From 1982 onwards, he was primarily at lock, but in 1983, he was injured for a significant period of time. He played only 11 games in the 1983 season. He played his last game that year as a replacement in his sides' 18-4 preliminary final loss to the

Parramatta Eels The Parramatta Eels are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Sydney suburb of Parramatta that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL). The Parramatta District Rugby League Football Club was formed in 1947, and ...

at the

. He played 174 games, and scored 30 tries, 22 goals and 4 field goalsWhitticker, Alan and Hudson, Glen; ''The Encyclopedia of Rugby League Players''p. 252.

Post playing

In 1996, Hughes returned to the club in the role of Development Manager. In 2004, he was nominated for the Berries to Bulldogs 70 Year Team of Champions and is a life member of the club.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hughes, Mark 1954 births Living people Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs players English emigrants to Australia English people of Australian descent English rugby league players

Mark Mark may refer to: In the Bible * Mark the Evangelist (5–68), traditionally ascribed author of the Gospel of Mark * Gospel of Mark, one of the four canonical gospels and one of the three synoptic gospels Currencies * Mark (currency), a currenc ...

Rugby league centres Rugby league five-eighths Rugby league locks Rugby league players from Worcestershire