 Hughes in 2013 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Graeme Christopher Hughes | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1955-12-06)6 December 1955 (age 69) Stanmore, New South Wales, Australia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Batting | Left-handed | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Relations | Noel Hughes (father) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Domestic team information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1975/76–1978/79 | New South Wales | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source:CricketArchive,2 February 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rugby league career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Playing information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Second-row | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source:[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Graeme Christopher Hughes (born 6 December 1955) is an Australian sportsman turned broadcaster. He is the last man to have played bothrugby league andcricket forNew South Wales.[2]His fatherNoel Hughes played cricket forWorcestershire in the 1950s.
Hughes was born inStanmore, New South Wales, Australia.
As a sportsman, Hughes found most success inrugby league, playing for theCanterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs as well as representing his state at the age of 19.[3] Hughes was unlucky not to be selected for theAustralian side to go on the1978 Kangaroo tour. He was a key member of the Bulldogs "Entertainers" era playing second-row in the Grand Final loss against St George and starred the following year in Canterbury's 18–4 victory against Easts in 1980. Hughes retired in 1982 after a series of injuries to focus on his media career.
In 2008, Hughes announced he was running for a position on the Bulldogs Rugby League Football Club Board of Directors alongside former playersAndrew Farrar,Paul Dunn andBarry Ward. Hughes missed out by 32 votes.
His brothersMark andGarry played forCanterbury, as did his cousinKevin Moore and nephewsGlen,Steven andCorey. His uncle is former rugby league administratorPeter 'Bullfrog' Moore.
Hughes appeared in 20first-class and threeList A games, all forNew South Wales between the 1975–76 and 1978–79 seasons. He never produced a spectacular batting performance, his top score being the 65 he hit againstVictoria at theMCG in his final season.[4]
After his retirement from playing, Hughes moved into the media. He worked onChannel 10's rugby league coverage first being a sideline eye then became the networks play by play caller in 1988 alongside Ian Maurice andRex Mossop until the end of 1991 when Ten lost the rights toChannel 9.
He also led Ten's commentary team for the English leg of the1990 Kangaroo tour alongside David Morrow, including all threeAshes tests betweenAustralia andGreat Britain (theABC covered the two tests againstFrance). He also had a stint asChannel 7 commentator for Australian Tests in 1992–93 against Great Britain andNew Zealand, before moving to New Zealand to call theAuckland Warriors matches in 1995 forSky NZ, He hosted Ten Network's coverage of theSeoul Olympics. He also hosted Rugby League programs onChannel 7 as well as appearing on former weekend sports showSportswatch. Hughes now co-hosts theTalkin' Sport radio show on Sydney station2SM.[5]
On 31 July 2016, Hughes commentated theManly Warringah Sea Eagles againstNewcastle Knights game for theNRL's retro round onFox Sports Australia.[6]The following year, Hughes returned to commentate the NRL's retro round game betweenSouth Sydney andSt. George Illawarra at theSydney Cricket Ground.[7]