Former Super League trio among sextet departing Championship side
From left to right: Josh Bowden, Ben Johnston and Craig Hall
Former Super League trio Craig Hall, Josh Bowden and Ben Johnston are among six players departing Championship outfit Doncaster, who have submitted an application to make the jump up to the top-flight.
Veteran back Hall, now 37, has spent the last two seasons with the Dons after leaving Featherstone Rovers to link up with them ahead of the 2024 campaign.
Featuring 49 times, the ex-Hull KR and Hull FC ace has taken his career appearance tally above the 400-mark, with 250 tries scored now.
Former FC and Wakefield prop Bowden spent just a sole season at the Eco-Power Stadium, joining Richard Horne’s side from Trinity ahead of the 2025 season and playing 12 games across all competitions.
With his 34th birthday coming up in January, Bowden managed to surpass the milestone of 250 career appearances at the back end of the season as Doncaster finished eighth on the ladder in the Championship.
Playmaker Johnston turned 33 in March, and has already announced his decision to hang up his boots at the end of a career which saw him feature twice in Super League for Castleford Tigers back in August 2012.
Earning five caps on the international front for Ireland, Johnston also made more than 250 career appearances and scored over 100 tries. 75 of those games, and 35 of his tries, came in a Doncaster shirt having spent three years at the Eco-Power Stadium.
Former Super League trio among sextet departing Championship side
The Dons’ list of departures is rounded off by Jason Tali, Junior Mafi and Andrew Gill.
Three-time Papua New Guinea international Tali, who turned 36 in July, donned a shirt for the club more than 160 times having joined them back in 2016 from Newcastle Thunder.
Tali spent the back end of the 2025 campaign out on loan in League 1 with Goole Vikings, and now departs on a permanent basis.
Former Castleford young gun Mafi, who departed The Jungle without registering a first-team appearance, played 11 games across all competitions for the Dons having joined them ahead of the 2024 campaign.
He too featured as a loanee for Goole earlier this year, and is now on the open market.
Teenager Gill – who spent time in the youth ranks of Huddersfield Giants – was signed by the Dons back in March following a successful trial, but never played a game in their colours.
A Dearne Valley Bulldogs junior, the closest he came to an appearance for Doncaster were three games which saw him named as their unused 18th man, with the most recent of those on April 27 in a 24-19 defeat at Barrow Raiders.
Chief Executive Officer Carl Hall said: “We would like to thank Craig, Ben, Josh, Jason, Junior and Andrew for their dedication to our club throughout their time with us.
“We would like to wish them well in their new adventures and we look forward to welcoming them back to the Eco-Power Stadium whenever they wish to come and visit us.”
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