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Cornwall’s New Cult Hero Eyes World Cup Selection

June 8, 2022

Aaron Jones-Bishop
Aaron Jones-Bishop on his Cornwall debut – Patrick Tod

Cornwall RLFC’s latest cult hero Aaron Jones-Bishop has revealed that a move to the Duchy will hopefully help his quest for participation in the Rugby League World Cup, scheduled for later this year.

Jones-Bishop, who has represented Jamaica on the global stage, joined the Choughs last week after he left fellow Betfred League 1 side Hunslet.

The 32-year-old enjoyed a debut to remember in Cornwall colours after he scored a try within eight minutes of his debut against London Skolars last Saturday.

And despite Cornwall narrowly losing 24-20 to the capital outfit, Jones-Bishop endeared himself to the Memorial Ground faithful with a passionate display. 

“I’m from Leeds and Hunslet was the most convenient place for me to play,” he told cornwallrlfc.co.uk. “I’m not going to lie, I loved playing there too but this season I played two games.

“It got to the point when thinking about the World Cup that how can a coach pick me when I’m not playing over someone that is playing? And I wouldn’t expect that either so I had to make a decision to leave and then the opportunity to come to Cornwall came up. 

“Beachy (John Beach, general manager) and Neil (Kelly, head coach) have been great about things and my agent has also been amazing.

“I flew down, the club made sure I had a nice place to stay and I felt like I fitted in straight away.

“I know Nathan Conroy, Harry Aaronson and Mul (Anthony Mullally) but the rest of the lads I only met the day before the game. Apart from not getting the victory, it was an unbelievable way to start my Cornwall career.”

Jones-Bishop began the game on the wing, a position he openly admits is not his favourite. But 20 minutes into the game, he was shifted to the loose forward role and continued to excel.

“I loved every minute of my first game,” Jones-Bishop added. “To be honest, I don’t really like playing on the wing – I’d rather play prop than wing. I love playing loose forward, but perhaps I need to just put a bit of weight on and get a bit fitter to play there regularly.”

Looking forward to Sunday’s match against table-topping Keighley Cougars, Jones-Bishop, whose brother Ben has won the Super League with Leeds, admitted that positives can be taken from the narrow defeat into a mouthwatering clash against Rhys Lovegrove’s men.

He said: “We lost by four points and (London Skolars) did an absolute demolition job on Oldham the other day. 

“In my eyes that is a real positive for us but we know, by slipping off by maybe 10 per cent at the end of each half, that the win just got away from us.”