Career Record for Featherstone
Appearances			Tries	Goals	Drop Goals	Points
Total	Start	Sub
262	241	21	26	0	0	79

It's doubtful if any other Rugby League player has ever handed back their signing on fee, but this is what Richard 'Charlie' Stone did in 1970. He had signed from the Old Pomfretians RU Club and made his senior debut at Wigan on 14 October 1970, he impressed, and then played the next two games at home to Warrington and at Huddersfield. He then decided to quit, and handed back his signing-on fee when ironically he could have been playing in the Yorkshire Cup final two weeks hence and in what would only have been his fifth game. Fortunately, new coach Peter Fox prevailed upon him to return in the close season of 1971.

Although his three introductory games had been in the second row, Stone soon moved to loose forward at the beginning of 1971/72, a position he was to dominate before moving back into the second row in 1975/76.  Initially it was sheer raw talent, but with coaching and maturity he developed into an outstanding player. Coach Peter Fox tells of how he took Stone out in training and told him to run at him and then attempt to side-step. Fox had to pick himself up from the ground on several occasions before he had learned to side-step off one foot and the lesson was completed with a strong addition to Stone's armoury. He was exceptionally fit, which fuelled his phenomenal work rate and as his handling skills improved, his hard foraging and extraordinary defence made him a formidable opponent and a vital component in the Rovers pack. For a forward, his appearances levels were extremely high, and from 1971 to 1977, he averaged 36 appearances per season.

After appearing at loose forward in the 1973 Cup Final, he was playing substitute in both the 1974 Cup Final and the Captain Morgan Trophy final. Like most Rovers players, he could only land a runners-up medal in the Yorkshire Cup in 1976 and 1977. He made two appearances for Yorkshire in September 1973 against Cumberland and Lancashire. In 1977/78, he won the John Jepson 'Player of the Year' trophy, a just reward for his sterling performances and then followed Vince Farrar to Hull during the close season in a £15,000 transfer deal. There, he enjoyed further success, appearing in 10 finals, being appointed captain - testament to his leadership qualities – and touring Australasia in 1979 with Great Britain.

He is, however, best remembered in Featherstone as the Hull player who gave away the penalty from which his former club snatched a dramatic 14-12 victory in the 1983 Cup Final.  Stone then returned to Featherstone in October 1983 to add his experience to a struggling Rovers pack through a rent-a-player scheme which Hull introduced. He played 14 games between October 1983 and February 1984, the most satisfying of which must have been the second round John Player Trophy game at home to Hull on 20 October. The Rovers had a patched-up team, with only four of their Wembley players and, in an ironic twist, Stone inspired them to a 20-14 victory over the league champions. He apparently retired after playing at Leigh on 24 February 1984, but joined Peter Fox's Bradford Northern for one last season in 1984/85 with a creditable 28 appearances – a striking finish to a striking career.

Biography by Ron Bailey