The Daily Telegraph described the Warriors offer as a "monster" and claimed Hughes was on the verge of signing "but the Storm have prevailed at the 11th hour".
"The Warriors were confident they had won the bidding war considering Hughes stood to earn an extra $500,000 by moving to New Zealand.
"New Warriors coach Nathan Brown had big plans for Hughes, telling him he would run the side playing on the right side in the No. 7 jumper.