Ex-winger who was ‘too slow, too big' now a key man up front for Dogs
Yet Canterbury coach Cameron Ciraldo was more impressed with the tough carries and 27 tackles Hughes delivered during his 30 minutes than his tryscoring heroics.
'I thought his start to the game was really good, and his second stint,' Ciraldo said.
'He scored two tries and everyone sees that, but the stuff he's doing that front-rowers have to do, I thought he was brilliant at that.'
Ciraldo said Hughes, who played all 25 games for Canterbury last season, was getting back to his best after undergoing ankle surgery earlier in the year.
'We missed him at the start of the year,' Ciraldo said. 'He had that syndesmosis injury and missed the first 12 weeks of the season. He was really good for us last year.
'He's just been building towards that. Last week it was hard to leave him out of the team … we wanted him to go back to NSW Cup and play big minutes. He went back and did that and totally deserved to come back into the team.'
After the Bulldogs were knocked out in the opening round of the play-offs last year, they are on track for a top-two finish this season, and Hughes is confident they can do some damage in the finals.
'We're a different style of team, I reckon,' he said.
'We're real fit. We base our game [on] defence. You don't get picked in the team unless your defence is pretty good. So, yeah, we're a real defensive team, and I think that's what we'll need in those games.'
It's a far cry from Hughes' debut season in 2023, when the Bulldogs won only seven games and finished third last.
'We got smashed [50-16] on my debut by the Bunnies on Anzac Day,' he recalled.
'That was one you don't want to really remember, but it was good, man. It was good to get out there [in the NRL].'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
West Australian
2 hours ago
- West Australian
GEORGIE PARKER: Damien Hardwick's AFL legacy grows at Suns as Clarkson's wanes at North
Legacy is everything in the AFL. Clubs, player and coaches all pride themselves on it, and we have two coaches in the box seat to solidify their spot as the best we've had; Damien Hardwick and Alastair Clarkson. Hardwick's Gold Coast Suns delivered a demolition job on Brisbane in the QClash, and suddenly (I assume) much to the AFL's relief, the years of patience and promise are finally paying off. It's one win, sure, but the Suns are on their way to making finals for the first time and are putting their hand up as a team to watch on the verge of something special. Hardwick has brought a ruthless edge, relevancy and even a sense of desirability to a club long known for under performing when it counts. Premierships are hard to come by, and by no means do I think the Suns will win one this year, but when success does come he won't just be remembered as the architect of Richmond's dynasty. He'll be known as the man who made the Suns matter. Contrast that with Clarkson at North Melbourne. The four-time premiership mastermind was supposed to bring hope, structure and progress. But after almost two seasons, the Roos look no closer to anything resembling success. Is it the list? Is it fitness? Is it their mindset? Or, this feels almost sacrilegious to say given who I'm writing about, is it the coaching? Right now, the direction is clear. If Dimma's Suns keep climbing, his legacy will stretch far beyond Tigerland. But if Clarkson can't get North out of the doldrums, the legacy that once looked unquestionable will always carry an asterisk. The fixture debate has, once again, dominated the footy news cycle this week. Friday night blunders, overlapping match times, and prime-time-quality games being shoved into time slots usually reserved for the VFL. But to me, there's a deeper issue here, one that goes beyond bounce down times, broadcast bias, and it's slowly strangling the growth of the game's smaller clubs. The big clubs, Collingwood, Carlton and Essendon, dominate the free-to-air schedule. That's not a conspiracy; it's the AFL and its broadcasters chasing the biggest audience and advertising return. But look at the facts: Essendon, a team that hasn't won a final in over 20 years, leads the league with 12 prime-time games. Carlton, with more wooden spoons (five) than finals appearances (two) since 2000, follows closely with 1 1. Collingwood (at least a genuine contender) sits third with 10. I get it. Money talks. Broadcasters are footing the bill, and they want a say. But the trade-off is hurting the competition. The clubs that get seen more, get supported more strongly. More screen time means more sponsorship, more kids in jumpers, more members, more marquee matches. And in turn, more pull in recruiting players who want to play on the biggest stage. Think ANZAC Day, Dreamtime at the 'G, King's Birthday, these are all games that kids grow up dreaming about. Meanwhile, smaller clubs, often stuck behind paywalls or buried in overlapping time slots are struggling just to get noticed, let alone attract players without paying massive overs for them. This cycle feeds itself. The more invisible a club becomes, the harder it is to grow. It mirrors the same challenges women's sports have faced for decades: if you can't see it, you can't support it. Maybe that's part of the reason why Collingwood has twice the number of members of North Melbourne, a team often playing in front of a three-quarters-empty Marvel Stadium with barely a free-to-air slot in sight. Look, I'm not naive. I understand how the world works. But there's got to be a better balance. Because if the AFL keeps handing the spotlight to the same few clubs, then the rest will never get a look in, and we need them to if want the league to maintain (or find again) the competitiveness that we desperately crave.
News.com.au
2 hours ago
- News.com.au
Brisbane Lions stalwart Dayne Zorko claims he's the target of a ‘witch hunt' after being fined by AFL
Lions veteran Dayne Zorko says he's the target of a 'witch hunt' after being fined for using 'insulting and profane language' towards match officials. Zorko was last Friday slapped with a $3000 fine by the AFL for language directed towards the officials bench in the final quarter of Brisbane's 10-point win over the Western Bulldogs at the Gabba on July 18. Addressing the matter on Tuesday on the SENQ Breakfast program, Zorko said the fine was 'an absolute joke'. 'The witch hunt is back out on me,' he said. 'We'll seek further clarification and hopefully we'll get that. You can't have any frustration in this game anymore. 'You've got to be an absolute robot. If you're not, then you pay the price. (It's) disappointing, but it is what it is.' In sanctioning Zorko, the AFL said it had 'no tolerance for abusive or insulting conduct towards AFL umpires and other match officials'.
News.com.au
3 hours ago
- News.com.au
Danika Mason cops heartbreaking blow as rugby league boyfriend Liam Knight makes move
Channel 9 presenter Danika Mason has copped a brutal blow with her rugby league boyfriend, Liam Knight, set to spend the next year on the other side of the world. Knight, who signed a deal to join Super League club Hull FC back in March, has set the league alight since making the move from Australia. As a result of his excellent start to the 2025 season, the 30-year-old has been rewarded with a new 12-month contract. While it shows Knight is thriving in his career, it means he will continue to be more than 17,000km away from the Wide World of Sports host, who recently replaced Alex Cullen on Nine's Today Show. Knight, who hails from Alice Springs, was released by the Canterbury Bulldogs last year, after playing just two matches for the club in 2024. He was quickly snapped up by Hull ahead of the 2025 season. Knight was originally set to spend seven months in the UK playing for Hull. But after becoming a fan favourite and one of the club's most consistent players, he penned a new 12-month deal. 'I'm stoked to be staying here – I really love this club and I'm really excited to see what we can keep building over the next 12 months,' Knight told the club's website announcing the news of his re-signing. 'I've really fallen in love with the fans and the atmosphere, both home and away – they're so dedicated. I love the playing group we have here and the coaching staff too – it's a fun place to come to work and that's being reflected in our performances.' While his career is thriving, it is a tough blow to his budding relationship with Mason. The couple's relationship became the talk of the rugby league world last year after Mason split with fiancee Todd Liubinskas in 2023 and called off their wedding, just weeks before they were set to get married. The exact reason for the couple's split remains unclear and became a topic of much speculation among footy and media insiders, with the party line being that it was due to a breakdown in trust. Mason was first pictured on a date with Knight at The Butler restaurant in Sydney's Potts Point in February 2024 before the pair confirmed they were together on Instagram in July. Knight posted a loved-up snap of the pair embracing with the caption: 'My life's good.' Despite the distance that now separates them, the pair have remained together. And while it is undoubtedly hard to be away from his partner, Knight revealed his move to Hull has helped him rediscover his love for rugby league. 'It's been a real ride so far – I got off the plane in March and jumped straight into it,' Knight said. 'I didn't have much of a pre-season, so the first few weeks were about building some fitness, and I feel like I've been building week to week and contributing to the team. 'I had a couple of tough years back home in regards to injury, so coming over to England was a bit of a clean slate for me. I've really found my love for the sport again, so this move has been a massive blessing for me.'
