Mark Bugden (born 8 December 1961), nicknamed "Buggo", is an Australian former professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

footballer who primarily played as a . The teams he played for at a club level were: the

Newtown Jets The Newtown Jets are an Australian rugby league football club based in Newtown, New South Wales, Newtown, a suburb of Inner West (Sydney), Sydney's inner west. They currently compete in the NSW Cup competition, having left the top grade after t ...

(1981−83), the

Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Belmore, a suburb in the Canterbury-Bankstown region of Sydney. They compete in the NRL Telstra Premiership, as well as competitions facilitated by ...

(1984−88), and the

Parramatta Eels The Parramatta Eels are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Sydney suburb of Parramatta that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL). The Parramatta District Rugby League Football Club was formed in 1947, and ...

(1989−90).

Background

Bugden was born in

Newtown, New South Wales Newtown, a suburb of Inner West, Sydney's inner west, is located approximately four kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district, straddling the Local government areas of New South Wales, local government areas of the City of Sy ...

and was a Newtown junior with the Marrickville RSL Club.

Playing career

Bugden made his first grade debut for Newtown in round 22 of the 1981 season against

St. George Saint George (;Geʽez: ጊዮርጊስ, , ka, გიორგი, , , died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was an early Christian martyr who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to holy tradition, he was a soldier in the ...

scoring two tries in a 20-11 victory at

Kogarah Oval Jubilee Stadium (also known as Kogarah Oval) is a multi-purpose stadium in Carlton, a suburb in Sydney, Australia. The stadium is mainly used for rugby league and the A-League, and is one of the home grounds of the National Rugby League (NRL) ...

. In 1983, Bugden played 24 games for Newtown including their last ever match in the NSWRL competition against

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

Campbelltown Stadium Campbelltown Sports Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Leumeah, a suburb in South Western Sydney, Australia, owned by Campbelltown City Council. Formerly known as Orana Park and Campbelltown Sports Ground, it is currently the home ground ...

with Newtown winning 9-6. In 1984, Bugden signed for Canterbury. Bugden scored the winning try for Canterbury in their 6-4 Grand Final victory over Parramatta that season. In 1985 he was suspended for 14 weeks for his high tackle on Steve Rogers (which resulted in litigation) and could not regain his first grade spot for the 1985 grand final. In 1986, Bugden played in Canterbury's 1986 Grand Final loss against Parramatta. He was a fresh reserve for Canterbury in their 24–12 win over the

Balmain Tigers The Balmain Tigers (also known as the Sydney Tigers from 1995 to 1996) are a rugby league club based in the inner-western Sydney suburb of Balmain, New South Wales, Balmain. They were a founding member of the New South Wales Rugby League and on ...

in the 1988 Grand Final under the coaching of Phil Gould. In 1989, Bugden joined Canterbury's arch-rivals Parramatta where he played two seasons. Bugden is the younger brother of former Newtown and Parramatta player and

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

front row forward Geoff Bugden.

Post playing

After retirement, Bugden became a police officer. In June 2005, Bugden was dismissed from the NSW Police Service for gross misconduct.

References

External links

Bulldogs profile
1961 births Living people Australian rugby league players Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs players Parramatta Eels players Newtown Jets players Rugby league hookers Rugby league players from Sydney 20th-century Australian sportsmen {{Australia-rugbyleague-bio-1960s-stub