Greyhound Racing NSW has partnered with the Mark Hughes Foundation through 2026, and the campaign runs across the state through November. More than $38,000 has already been raised, including over $35,000 from the memorabilia auctions held on the final night of racing at Wentworth Park.
During the 30 days of November, GRNSW will donate $161 every time the red rug (number 1) or the blue rug (number 4) wins a race at every greyhound race meeting around NSW.
The selection of the blue and red rugs was because they are the colours of the Newcastle Knights, and the $161 amount was selected as during his National Rugby League career, Mark Hughes playing 161 first grade games for the Newcastle Knights.
The raffle is the centrepiece. It is drawn live at An Evening With The Stars on Saturday 28 November 2026 at The Gardens Greyhound and Sporting Complex in Newcastle, where Ray Hadley, Danny Buderus and Fletcher Sharpe join guests for the night.
First prize is a trip for two to Las Vegas for the opening round of the 2027 NRL Telstra Premiership season, flying on the exclusive NRL and Qantas private charter, with five nights at the official Fan Hub and tickets to all three games at Allegiant Stadium. Valued at $11,000.
There are three more prizes behind it: two corporate hospitality tickets to an NRL game in Sydney during the 2027 season, a signed and framed 2026 South Sydney jersey, and a signed and framed 2026 Queensland State of Origin jersey.
Mark Hughes played 161 games for the Newcastle Knights. In 2014, after his own brain cancer diagnosis, he and his wife Kirralee started the Mark Hughes Foundation, because they had discovered how badly underfunded brain cancer research was in this country. Since then the Foundation has raised millions of dollars for research, awareness, and support for patients and the families around them. That money does two things. It funds research, including the Mark Hughes Foundation Centre for Brain Cancer Research at the University of Newcastle, where a dedicated team works on better outcomes for people diagnosed with brain cancer.
And it funds Mark Hughes Foundation brain cancer care nurses across the Hunter and regional New South Wales. These nurses do what no one else has time to do. They book the appointments, they explain what the treatment actually involves, they sit with families on the worst day of their lives, and they make sure nobody has to work out a brain cancer diagnosis on their own.
