Melbourne Storm's NRL hopes pinned to humble Kiwi Jahrome Hughes

The key man in tonight's NRL final could be a humble young Māori man who is one of the best rugby league players in the world. On Sunday, Jahrome Hughes plays for the game's biggest prize - with a broken arm.

At last year's Dally M Awards - the game's biggest prize night - Kiwi Jahrome Hughes won the major award - Player of the Year.

The star halfback was the favourite, but when the award was announced, he looked absolutely stunned. He gave a typically humble speech, briefly thanking family, coaches, players, teachers, and "my beautiful wife Moll".

Some players performed a spontaneous haka and Hughes again looked surprised, ss if he was thinking, "All this for me?"

Twelve months on, Hughes has had another sensational season, when he's been on the field, but it's been blighted by injuries.

First he dislocated his shoulder and missed a month of footy. Then, in his first game back, he fractured his arm.

That was on 4 September.

Hughes' Melbourne Storm are among the most professional clubs in the game and the medical staff quickly moved into action. He was on the operating table the next morning.

The bone was reconnected with a plate and eight screws. Surgeon Andrew Oppy described it to Sydney's Daily Telegraph as being "like a carpenter fixing a broken bit of wood, and putting it back perfectly straight and aligned".

Then they tried to accelerate the recovery using a bone stimulator - Hughes sat with it for hours.

An arm guard was found and approved, and he returned to action in the preliminary final last week.

Clearly, Cronulla Sharks would try to target him, with his busted shoulder and arm, but Hughes put in a man-of-the-match performance with eight tacklebreaks and a great try, where he ran 40 metres.

On Sunday, he hopes to win the ring that goes to the players in the premiership-winning team. His fracture hasn't healed yet, it's a risk, but the Storm probably don't win without him.

Hughes was born in 1994 in Wellington. His first club was Harbour City Eagles, a side that can also claim Canberra Raiders captain Joseph Tapine.

Hughes' first NRL team was Gold Coast Titans where he made his firstt-grade debut in 2013. He had a couple of years playing in the Queensland Cup, before returning to the NRL with North Queensland Cowboys in 2016, and moved to Melbourne in 2017.

At that time, he was a fullback and was considered the long-term replacement for one of the game's stars, Billy Slater, but crafty Melbourne coach Craig Bellamy had other options for that slot. He'd lost another star in halfback Cooper Cronk and hadn't found the right replacement, so he thought about Hughes.

He doesn't look much like a halfback - he has a bigger build than most halfbacks. In rugby union, he might be a second-five.

He had never played halfback at any level, when Bellamy asked him to consider the shift.

Today, he is an elite halfback, the game's key position. Penrith halfback Nathan Cleary is widely considered the game's top player right now, but Hughes is right behind him.

Hughes has all the skills to excel in his position.

He's a runner with the ball, one of Melbourne's top tryscorers. He's big enough to bump off the tacklers and has good speed off the mark.

He's also a leader with try-assists, setting things up for others, and he is also Melbourne's main tacitcal kicker. Increasingly in the game, tries are scored by the ball being kicked wide and a tall winger leaping for the ball, as it comes down on the tryline.

The best exponent in the game is Melbourne winger Xavier Coates, but he would surely be the first to acknowledge the kicking skills of Hughes, who often puts the ball right on the spot Coates needs.

In a Fox League video earlier this year, some of Hughes' opponents were asked what made him special.

"His best strength is his running game, everyone knows that, but that's not all he's got," said Brisbane halfback Ben Hunt, who will mark him on Sunday. "He's an exceptional kicker, he's got a great short-passing game, he's a really good defender and he's the ultimate competitor.

"He never gives up on anything."

"He's just off the cuff," said Brisbane fullback Reece Walsh. "He plays what he sees and he backs himself.

"He's so unorthodox, it's very hard to gameplan against him and know what's he going to do. He probably doesn't know himself."

"He's scoring tries, he's setting up tries," said Dolphins halfback Isaiya Katoa. "Any time a try is scored in Melbourne, I'm sure [he's] been involved."

"He's the ultimate leader," said Cronulla wing and Kiwis teammate Ronaldo Mulitalo. "He's a guy who just brings calmness to the group - 'No worries, boys, I've got it covered'."

Teammates admire Hughes as a hard worker who does extra gym sessions, improving his strength and his speed off the mark. They say the laidback, quiet man off the field is transformed on the field, barking orders and berating teammates who don't come up to his high standards.

Hughes and wife Molly are expecting their first child later this year. In league's blokey culture, many players speak almost disparagingly of 'the missus', if the subject comes up, but Hughes always refers to her as 'Moll'.

If discussing almost anything not footy related, it's always what "me and Moll" did together, what movie they watched together, where they went together. The couple met at school, where they collaborated on a music video, which is still available online.

Hughes has collaborated with teammates Cameron Munster and Ryan Papenhuyzen on a weekly podcast for the past three seasons. Hughes comes across as serious and considered, while enjoying the banter with his two mates.

He's articulate enough to have a media career after playing, but his opinions are always carefully qualified - you get the feeling he'd hate to offend anyone.

The Storm lost last year's grand final. Pictures screened after the game showed Hughes looking the most miserable of anyone, his head hunched forward, hands over his eyes.

Bellamy came over to his halfback, offering consoling words and a pat on the back, but it made no difference and Hughes didn't even look up at his coach.

He and his wife are agreed that the one thing he hates most in life is losing footy games, and he can be grumpy for days after a loss.

The Storm has other top players - Munster and hooker Harry Grant also rate among the game's elite - but it's usually Hughes who has the biggest impact, when Melbourne win.

He's just signed a deal that will see him paid more than a million dollars a year over the next four years.

He could probably have more, if he gone to one of the weaker clubs, prepared to pay a King's ransom to attract a marquee player, but 'Doozy' decided to stay with the Storm, who are always at or near the top of the table.

Like the Storm, Hughes is a winner.

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