FOR a rugby league player, things can change in the blink of an eye.
From being played every week to ending up on the sidelines, trying to understand the way in which a new coach wants you to play can be difficult.
And not every player can be favoured by a head coach for one reason or another.
As it was, that’s exactly what happened to former Hull FC forward Josh Bowden, who made almost 200 appearances for the Black and Whites over a period of 11 seasons but found himself on the periphery under Brett Hodgson.
Of course, neither Bowden nor Hodgson are at the MKM Stadium anymore with the former signing for Wakefield Trinity permanently after a spell on loan in 2022.
Bowden has explained why the move was made and why a move to Championship hotshots Featherstone Rovers fell through.
“Last year when I came to Wakefield (on loan), I really enjoyed it,” Bowden told League Express. I’ve been at Hull all my career, but I decided it was time to have a change. Everyone has ripped in this year and I’m good to go.
“I don’t think it was a difficult choice to move as I was set and ready to move.
“I knew Reece (Lyne) from Hull, as I grew up with him. Jamie Shaul came on loan so it made the choice a bit easy with the Hull bus we had going. I’m glad I did make that move now.
“I asked to go out on loan but I actually played in the reserves against Wakefield and they got in touch and asked if I wanted to go on loan and they wanted to make it permanent.”
When asked why he wasn’t getting played by Hodgson, Bowden said: “It was hard to say really. Obviously I wasn’t getting any game time under him and I was a bit frustrated.
“He said I would have to play reserves but I wanted to play at a higher level and initially wanted to go on loan to Featherstone.
“But it was getting rushed through and things like that take a bit of time. I knew Featherstone wanted a player quick but Hull tried to make it a permanent deal.
“With Hodgo (Brett Hodgson), I just think I wasn’t his cup of tea and I wasn’t in his plans so it made sense to move on.”
