The event was part of a fund raiser for the Mark Hughes Foundation and the 70-plus guests helped raise $9250 for brain cancer research.

Hughes, the local boy turned professional rugby league ­player has focused his energy off the field on the ­formation of a charity foundation,­ following his own ­serious health scare. The one-time Maitland ­schoolboy, Kurri Bulldogs champ, Newcastle Knights premiership winner and NSW representative, captivated Friday’s gathering sharing stories from his rugby league past and his battle with brain cancer.

“It still impacts me, I’m still emotional but it has helped me see the good in people and that touches my heart,” he said. Hughes’ diagnosis came after experiencing headaches for two days. “I had a scan, then all hell broke loose. There was a tumour. My life changed forever.”

Hughes had surgery and 33 rounds of radiation. “That meant I had to get friends to take me to the treatment on the Central Coast which meant I had to shout lunch 33 times,” he quipped.

Hughes has taken to yoga, running and swimming as part of his recovery. “I wanted to do more, do extra. I had to be positive and surround myself with positive people. I had a wife, three kids under 10 and I was thinking why me? I knew I had to get over the negativity because there were people out there worse off than me,” he said.