Career
He played for the Newtown Jets and the Parramatta Eels in the Australian New South Wales Rugby League competition. A Newtown junior, by 1979 Bugden had progressed to first grade. Bugden was a reserve for the Newtown Jets side that lost the 1981 Grand Final against the Parramatta Eels.
Bugden was selected to represent New South Wales for games I and III of the 1983 State of Origin series.
A serious injury to his chest in 1983 forced Bugden to announce his premature retirement from the game but two years later, he was back for Parramatta only to break his arm. After a long career that was often curtailed by serious injury, Bugden retired after completing the 1989 season.