A City New South Wales representative hooker, he played in the National Rugby League (NRL) for Canterbury-Bankstown and Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks.

Hughes made his first grade debut for Canterbury in round 8 of the 1998 NRL season against the Adelaide Rams at Belmore Oval, scoring a try during a 30–4 victory.

It was then revealed that Canterbury had exceeded the NRL's salary cap by $2 million over 3 years including undisclosed payments made to players.

As a result, the NRL fined Canterbury $500,000 and stripped them of all their 37 competition points meaning that the club would finish the 2002 season with the wooden spoon.

As 2004 NRL premiers, the Canterbury faced Super League IX champions, the Leeds Rhinos in the 2005 World Club Challenge.