HAVING established himself as a regular first-teamer with Huddersfield Giants back in the early 2010s, Joe Wardle tried his hand in the NRL with the Newcastle Knights.
The 32-year-old played 17 games before returning home to the UK, signing for the Castleford Tigers on a three-year deal ahead of the 2018 Super League season.
However, Wardle would play just 18 times for the West Yorkshire club in two seasons, spending most of 2019 on loan with former club Huddersfield.
An injury-hit spell saw Wardle leave permanently at the end of 2019 to link up with the Giants.
He subsequently left for Leigh in 2022, and recently joined Oldham as a player and assistant coach ahead of the 2024 season.
“I think there were probably a few reasons why it didn’t work at Castleford for me,” Wardle told League Express.
“I’d been told a few false promises when signing for the club i.e. getting new a stadium and a few other bits that I won’t go into detail about.
“I also got told I’d be coming in to replace a certain player who was injured which also didn’t happen. But then I never got an opportunity to play in a position for more than week or two so I couldn’t find any consistency.
“They made it out to be a club on the up but, really, they were just cutting corners and papering the cracks which has probably shown with where the club is at the moment.”
It’s fair to say that Wardle’s move to Leigh paid off, with the 32-year-old integral to the club’s promotion- and 1895 Cup-winning campaign in 2022.
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