After winning a Grand Final with the famous Kurri Kurri Bulldogs in 1995, Mark Hughes thought life couldn’t get much better.
But, just two years later, at the age of 20, he played on the wing in Newcastle’s inaugural premiership side, defeating Manly 22-16 in one of the greatest deciders in rugby league history.
In 2001, Mark represented New South Wales in the State of Origin Series, and his Knights return to The Big One.
In front of 90 000 fans at Stadium Australia, Half Back Andrew Johns puts on a masterclass in a 30 – 24 upset over the Parramatta Eels.
Then, at the age of 36, and with three young children, Mark faced the fight of his life when he was diagnosed with a Grade 3 high grade Oligoastrocytoma.
He completed 33 radiation sessions and 6 months of oral chemotherapy, and in 2014, Mark and his wife Kirralee began the Mark Hughes Foundation when they realised how underfunded brain cancer was in Australia in comparison to other cancers.
Since then they’ve raised close to $30 million for research, to create awareness and support brain cancer patients and their families.
The Knights use the following words to describe Mark on the club’s website.
Brave. Adaptable. Reliable. Resilient. Inspiring.
At The Perfect 10 we’d like to add just one more – Legend!
We hope you enjoy The Mark Hughes story.
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