By sports editor Russell Bennett
It’s only fitting that Rob Hughes’ 300th game for Bunyip fell on such a special day for the club on Saturday.
Because, for him, the milestone belongs to the club, and it’s all about the players he’s stepped out alongside in the red, white, and blue.
The Yips held their past players day on Saturday at ‘The Kennel’, while also taking on famous neighbouring rival Garfield on-field.
And for Hughes, the day was perfect.
It would have been perfect for him, regardless of his milestone, because that’s just what his team mates, past and present, mean to him.
He’s turning 40 in October, and played his first senior game for the club back in 1996 after playing what he estimates was around 140 junior games in the famous colours.
He’s since played in 291 more, along with eight reserves games, which took his tally to the magical 300 mark on Saturday.
Hughes played well over 50 games for other clubs, too – including stints in Tasmania and Queensland for work, and a senior premiership-winning period at Doveton when he went to test himself at a higher level.
But Bunyip has always been home – and always will be.
Afterall, it’s where his family is. His sons play in the juniors, and his brothers-in-law – Rickie Crockett and Sage Tapner – are entrenched in the senior club.
On Saturday, former Yips coach Dave Papley presented Hughes with his game day jumper and it was just one of so many memorable moments to stem from the day.
But for Hughes, the day will always be remembered as a momentous day for the club – rather than himself.
It’s the way the Team of the Century member and club legend has always been.
“When you’re growing up as a junior all your mates are playing and they’re all from Bunyip so you don’t go anywhere. You grow up with a group of blokes who’d just bleed for the club,” he explained.
“Then you get to the seniors, and it’s the same thing all over again. It’s just so hard to leave the place to go elsewhere.
“I had so many offers to play at different local clubs for money, but I just couldn’t do it. I couldn’t play against Bunyip; my mates and my hometown. For me, this place is everything.
“You couldn’t throw enough money at me to get me to play against Bunyip. I only ever left for work, or to test myself at a higher level, and that was hard enough to do.”
Hughes won a senior flag at Bunyip in 2000, but missed out on the famous 2012 victory at Garfield against the Stars. He was in Queensland working at the time.
He’d come back in 2011 from a stint in Tasmania, also for work, and had to make the agonising call to leave again – despite knowing what his mates were on the verge of achieving.
“I just had to go,” he said.
“It was probably the first time I’d ever put my family first, before footy.
“I knew we were going to win the flag in 2012, and we did, but half a dozen games into the season the boys were losing and I called dad and said I wanted to come back and help the team.
“I ended up staying up north, and the boys ended up winning the flag. I did whatever I could to hear about it on the radio or Facebook.
“For me, it was just incredible for all my mates who’d been trying so hard to win that first senior flag. To see them finally win it, even without me, was incredible.”
Hughes has had more than his fair share of grand final heartache – having lost “at least seven” of them at senior level – but he still remembers those experiences as career highlights and looks back fondly on what such a great group of mates achieved.
Hughes has played in a multitude of different on-field roles over the journey – including up forward and through the midfield – but, in truth, he doesn’t care what role he plays… as long as it’s for the team, and the club.
He relished the new lease on life great mate Brad ‘Tex’ Walker gave his career in his stint as coach, and now he’s experiencing the same thing under Aussie Jones and Ricky Clark – two bonafide legends of south east footy.
One thing all three have in common, for Hughes, is that they back him in.
And that’s why Bunyip’s recent win over the Sea Eagles in Inverloch ranks as such a highlight for him. He was backed in to play a role, and now he has the belief he can continue to – if he’s asked.
He knows that, by the end of the year, he might be facing a situation where he retires just shy of 300 senior appearances.
While he’d like to reach the milestone, he’s completely at peace with that decision not being in his hands. Again, it’s about whatever is best for the club and its development moving forward.
“I’ll say to Aussie and Rick, and Tex too before that – if you don’t want me in the team anymore, don’t feel bad for me,” Hughes said.
“I’ll go to the twos and do whatever I can around the club.
“Don’t feel bad about dropping me, because I won’t. I’m 39, turning 40 this year, and most of these guys are too quick for me. It’ll end soon, but I just want to keep going for as long as I can.”
For now, he’s just relishing being around his best mates – on field and off. There are the likes of Walker and Michael Whyte that he’s playing alongside, and the injured Nathan Lieshout – who was instrumental, along with the likes of Papley, in putting Saturday’s occasion together.
Hughes’ playing style has always been a physically demanding one, and he’s always been uncompromising out on the field – hitting the contest as hard as he can.
But that contradicts his nature.
“It’s just so hard to walk into a rival’s rooms after a game, because as soon as the siren goes to start the game I’m off, so when I come into the rooms after the game I’m always wondering how I’ll be received – if they’re going to hate me,” Hughes admitted.
“I’m naturally very shy so I don’t always go into the rooms and mingle because I’m not sure if blokes want to talk to me, or if they don’t.
“People might think I’m arrogant, but I just naturally hold back. If someone comes to me, I love it – I love to have a chat.”
Hughes has had so many on-field influences over his career to date, but none bigger than the inspirational, lead-by-example Walker who broke his neck in an on-field collision as a 19-year-old but years later captained the Yips to the 2012 flag.
“When ‘Tex’ was player-coach, and with me being older, he’d always tell me he wanted me in the team – and when a bloke like that tells you that, how do you not walk 10-foot tall?” Hughes said.
“He’d let me do what I needed to at training – with my family and work commitments – and trust that I’d do whatever the team needed.
“When it comes to selection, even now with Aussie and Rick, I’ve heard that he always pushes for me to be in the side. Why does he keep backing me well after the age of 30? He just trusts me. It’s an amazing feeling that he’ll always back me in.”
And that sums up Hughes perfectly. He’s always got his team mates’ backs, and they’ve always got his.
