JOSH Bowden has a bright future at Hull FC says coach Lee Radford after handing the prop a new long-term deal.
The 22-year-old, who was out of contract at the end of the season, has committed his future to the Black and Whites until the end of the 2016 campaign.
The deal ends the interest of a number of Super League clubs who have been attracted to the academy graduate following an impressive start to the year under Radford's guidance, and the Hull coach couldn't be happier to secure Bowden's services.
"Josh has been outstanding for us and deserves this contract. I am really pleased with how he's gone," Radford told the Mail.
"He's come through our system and I coached him in the under-20s and Andy Last had him in the academy, so we know all about him.
"He's a solid front rower who plays how I like my front rowers to play. He's still only a young pup and is going to get better with age."
Bowden has progressed from a bit-part player under former coach Peter Gentle, to one of Radford's first-team regulars, holding off the challenge of the likes of Liam Watts and Iafeta Paleaaesina to feature in eight of Hull's 11 games so far this year.
"Josh was in and out last year and because of how he performed in pre-season he put himself in contention for a spot at the start of the season," added Radford.
"He's taken his chance and he's got better as his confidence has grown from playing games. We are confident he'll be even better with time. He wants to be a Hull player, he is a Hull lad and he is starting to show us that passion and enthusiasm in the way he is playing for us, which is something you can't sign or coach into a player, it's invaluable.
"We're looking to build a squad around these players. We have a couple of good young half backs, Danny Houghton, Joe Westerman, Chris Tuson and Jordan Thompson are still young despite the number of games they've played. It's really pleasing to see players like Josh and Jordan stepping up already in the front row, a position which doesn't normally see players mature in until much later in their career, but their showing they can match it with anybody."
