In 1990, Hudson followed in the footsteps of his father Peter Hudson and joined Hawthorn, where played until the end of the 1996 season. A half forward, he kicked 264 goals in his seven seasons at the club, averaging nearly 38 goals a year. In 1991, in just his second year of AFL football, he finished fifth in the Brownlow Medal and kicked a couple of goals in Hawthorn's grand final victory. In the 1992 pre-season competition, he won the first-ever Michael Tuck Medal for his performance in the grand final. He was traded to the Western Bulldogs for the 1997 season and earned All-Australian selection in 1998. He was on-traded to Richmond at the end of 2001 and only managed three games before retiring in 2002.
Hudson worked as an assistant coach with both the Brisbane Lions and Collingwood. He was later a development manager for the St Kilda Football Club through the Saints' association with Sandringham as its VFL senior coach. His father was football manager at St Kilda under the Ken Sheldon coaching reign from 1990 until 1993.