Hiddleston is enjoying a breakthrough campaign with Glasgow as Franco Smith's side prepare to host Connacht in Friday's URC quarter-final. Victory over the Irish province would set up a semi-final against either the Bulls or Munster at Murrayfield the following week.
It has been a season full of promise for Glasgow, and Hiddleston has become an increasingly influential figure. Now in his third year with the senior squad, he has enjoyed his busiest campaign to date, making 20 appearances and starting 11 matches - more than fellow hookers Johnny Matthews and Seb Stephen.
The added responsibility appears to have accelerated his development and, with Matthews due to leave for Montauban this summer, Hiddleston is set to become the most experienced hooker at Scotstoun. Despite that, he admits Matthews' departure will leave a significant gap, both on and off the field.
"Obviously, Johnny's been here since I came here. It was the same when George Turner and Fraser Brown left. It's sad to see another hooker go, somebody you can talk to and they'll help you with things. So yeah, Johnny's going to be a big loss as well to the club. Obviously, you see what he's done here. You know, all the tries that he's scored and things like that."
Glasgow finished top of the URC standings and head into the play-offs as one of the competition favourites, but Connacht arrive in strong form. Stuart Lancaster's side recovered from a difficult start to the campaign to win eight of their final nine league matches and secure the final play-off place. One of those victories came against Glasgow in Galway, where Lancaster got the better of his son Dan, who was playing fly-half for the Warriors.
"They've been going really, really well recently," said Hiddleston. "Dan Lancaster tells me they're well coached as well. So I think you see from their recent results getting into the top eight, they're going really well. So I think for us it's about focusing on our own performance and just making sure we're clinical in these big moments."
There is also a strong determination within the Glasgow camp to avoid another painful home quarter-final defeat. The Champions Cup exit to Toulon at Scotstoun still lingers after a campaign in which the Warriors had worked hard to secure a top seeding.
"It was such a tough game and that's one that stung for a while and it's still stinging now," said Hiddleston. "Obviously you've done all that hard work in Europe and we just fell short a bit in that game. But we've learned from that. We've reviewed it and yeah, we'll take the lessons from it."
Hiddleston was part of Glasgow's title-winning URC campaign two years ago, making seven appearances during the regular season. Although he didn't feature in the play-offs, he travelled to South Africa as reserve cover and witnessed the Warriors' famous final victory over the Bulls at Loftus Versfeld.
"I was over in South Africa, I was the travelling reserve," he said. "That's what Franco said to me when I was over there: you come to these, you gain experience for when it's your turn. It was obviously so valuable being over there in South Africa and being in the thick of it without playing. It was a really good experience for me as a young player, to have seen that."
Last season brought a more active role in knockout rugby, with Hiddleston starting both the quarter-final win over the Stormers and the semi-final defeat to Leinster. Those experiences, he believes, have prepared him for the intensity of sudden-death rugby.
"Whatever role I play, you just need to make sure you're going out there at your best," he said. "You know, knockout rugby is a bit different to your normal league game. So things are going to be tight. But it's just important that we do our core skills well and everything well as a team."