He was one of the principal players, along with fellow All Black Don Hamilton, in the saga of petty officialdom which marred both the Southland and eventually New Zealand unions in 1908–09.
In 1908, when he was captain of the Britannia club, he was suspended by the Southland Rugby Union for striking along with the rest of his team and the opposition, Hamilton's Pirates, when they refused to play a match due to ground conditions and the weather with Invercargill being hit by a blizzard.
Then, in 1909, the New Zealand Rugby Union decreed that any player who had played any game under the "Northern" rules was to be regarded as a professional and was to be expelled.
Hughes first game of rugby league was for Britannia after they had switched codes en masse along with the Pirates club based in Bluff.
Hughes then played in two exhibition matches for the "Colours" team who in fact wore red against a side wearing black.
Hughes was then part of the first ever provincial game of rugby league in the South Island when he played for Southland in a home and away series against Otago in 1908.
Hughes then earned national selection and on 30 July 1910 he played for New Zealand in a Test against a touring Great Britain side.
The match was played at the Caledonian Ground in Dunedin and Auckland won 3018 with Hughes kicking a conversion in the losing side.