Career Record for Featherstone
Appearances			Tries	Goals	Drop Goals	Points
Total	Start	Sub
196	176	20	78	1	0	314

Local product Josh Hardcastle was plucked straight from Featherstone Lions into the Rovers first team at the start of 2017 and took the step up to the professional game in his stride. A no-nonsense, strong running centre, physically capable of covering second-row too, Hardcastle showed the type of consistency and durability which meant he was rarely out of the Rovers line up. 15 tries in 28 appearances in his debut season was followed up with 18 tries in 30 games in 2018 under Jon Duffy, his most prolific year, second only to his wingman Luke Briscoe in the scoring charts. Equally appreciated by following coaches Ryan Carr and James Webster, Josh won the admiration of the fans to do a lot of the unglamorous hard work too. Never one to take a backward step, he invariably took up the ball for acting halfback inside his own half to gain hard yards.

Despite strong competition from Alex Sutcliffe and Connor Carey, he was a regular choice throughout 2019 and represented Rovers in the Grand Final in Toronto. Similarly, in 2021 Rovers had lined up Thomas Minns and Kris Welham as centres, but Hardcastle simply got on with his job, played consistently well enough to become impossible to leave out and appeared in the Grand final against Toulouse, as Rovers came close to promotion again. His 2022 season was interrupted by a hamstring injury which kept him out for four months, and on his return he was used more at second-row for the first time. The following season started in familiar fashion with Chris Hankinson and Joey Leilua at centre, but Hardcastle once again proved indispensable until a serious knee injury finished his season. It was while he was recovering from that setback that he suffered an alarming stroke which he thankfully quickly recovered from. Once again in 2024 Hardcastle could be relied upon for straight running and solid tackling, appearing in 27 of 33 fixtures, filling in on occasion in the second-row but more at home at centre. Now at the veteran stage, Hardcastle once again received a high squad number (20) suggesting that he would be on the periphery of the first team. And once again, Hardcastle proved them wrong, another indispensable contribution of 24 of the 32 matches played. His versatility saw him play eight games at centre, ten in the second row, with a further six matches off the bench. 

At the end of 2025 when the club went into administration, Hardcastle stayed at the club until it became apparent that Rovers would not be playing in 2026. At this point he returned to his roots and rejoined Featherstone Lions. Always popular with the fans for his commitment and gregarious personality, Josh Hardcastle stood out as a rare player in the modern age, a talented star proud to play for his hometown team.

Josh Hardcastle's career statistics are available at https://stats.rugbyleaguerecords.com/playersummary.php?tselect=3083