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| Born | (1994-10-08)8 October 1994 (age 30) Wellington, New Zealand | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 183 cm (6 ft 0 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 90 kg (14 st 2 lb) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Playing information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Halfback, Fullback | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source:[1] As of 20 March 2025 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Jahrome Hughes (born 8 October 1994) is a New Zealand professionalrugby league footballer who plays as ahalfback for theMelbourne Storm in theNational Rugby League (NRL), and theNew Zealand Māori andNew Zealand at international level. He is a NRL premiership winning player of 2020.
He previously played for theGold Coast Titans and theNorth Queensland Cowboys in the NRL, and played as afullback earlier in his career.
Hughes was born inWellington, New Zealand, and is ofMāori, and Welsh descent.[2]
He played junior rugby league for theHarbour City Eagles.
In 2008, Hughes moved to theGold Coast, where he played for theTugun Seahawks andCurrumbin Eagles. He was educated atPalm Beach Currumbin State High School.
Hughes played for theSydney RoostersSG Ball Cup team before being signed by the Gold Coast Titans in 2012.[3] He played for the Gold CoastNYC team from 2012 to 2014.
In Round 17 of the2013 NRL season, Hughes made his NRL debut for theGold Coast Titans againstPenrith atDarwin.[4] In 2014, he spent the season in the NYC and was released by theGold Coast at the end of the year.
Hughes joined the newQueensland Cup side, theTownsville Blackhawks.[5] In September, he was named at fullback in the 2015 Queensland Cup Team of the Year. Hughes was named Blackhawks' Best Back and Players' Player.[6]
In October, Hughes signed a one-year contract withNorth Queensland.[7]
On 8 May, Hughes represented theQueensland Residents against theNew South Wales Residents, playing at fullback and scoring a try in the 16–30 win.[8] In Round 12, Hughes made hisNorth Queensland debut inWollongong, scoring a try in the 10–14 loss toSt. George Illawarra.[9] On 30 June, he signed a two-year contract withMelbourne starting in 2017.[10]
On 3 September, Hughes was named in theQueensland Cup Team of the Year at fullback for the second straight year.[11]
In round 16 of the2017 season, Hughes made hisMelbourne Storm debut against theSydney Roosters atAdelaide on 24 June, becoming Melbourne player 184. Hughes earned selection for theNew Zealand national rugby league team at the end of the 2018 season, but did not make the run-on team.
After the retirement ofBilly Slater and injury toScott Drinkwater, Hughes began the2019 season playingfullback. Following consistent performances for the Storm, Hughes made his international debut forNew Zealand Kiwis againstTonga. He scored a try on debut and played off the bench.
In round 23, Hughes made the move tohalfback to accommodateRyan Papenhuyzen atfullback at the expense of usualhalfbackBrodie Croft. Hughes would remain there for the remaining games of the 2019 season, scoring a try in the finals series however the Storm would lose in the preliminary finals to 2018 grand final opponent, theSydney Roosters in a tight game 14–6.
Hughes would make the permanent move into the halves in 2020 usually partneringCameron Munster, but occasionally partnering withCameron Smith. This transition would prove successful with Hughes starting at halfback in Melbourne's 26–202020 NRL Grand Final overPenrith.[12]
Hughes would cap a personally successful2021 season by being awarded the Melbourne Storm Player of the Year award, also being crowned as the 2021 Kiwi Player of the Year. He would also fill in as Melbourne Storm captain for the first time in 2022, re-signing with the club until the end of the 2026 NRL season.[13]
In 2022, Hughes started at halfback for the first time in his fourth test match representingNew Zealand Kiwis.[14] Hughes would score the opening try in the Kiwis 26–6 win againstTonga.[15]Hughes played 22 games for Melbourne in the2023 NRL season as the club finished third on the table. Hughes played in Melbourne's preliminary final loss against Penrith.[16]
On 2 October, Hughes took out theDally M Medal winning by just one point. Hughes played a total of 23 matches for Melbourne in the2024 NRL season as the club were runaway minor premiers. Hughes played in Melbourne's2024 NRL Grand Final loss against Penrith.[17][18] Hughes would be selected for New Zealand for the2024 Rugby League Pacific Championships, but had to withdraw from the squad due to injury.[19][20]
2020 NRL Grand Final: Premiers| † | Denotes seasons in which Hughes won anNRL Premiership |
| Season | Team | Matches | T | G | GK % | F/G | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 |  Gold Coast Titans | 1 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 0 |
| 2016 |  North Queensland | 1 | 1 | 0 | – | 0 | 4 |
| 2017 |  Melbourne | 4 | 3 | 0 | – | 0 | 12 |
| 2018 | 11 | 2 | 0 | – | 0 | 8 | |
| 2019 | 24 | 9 | 0 | – | 0 | 36 | |
| 2020† | 19 | 7 | 0 | – | 0 | 28 | |
| 2021 | 24 | 9 | 0 | – | 0 | 20 | |
| 2022 | 21 | 12 | 0 | – | 0 | 48 | |
| 2023 | 22 | 7 | 28 | ||||
| 2024 | 22 | 12 | 48 | ||||
| 2025 | |||||||
| Career totals | 149 | 62 | 0 | — | 0 | 248 | |