CORNWALL addition Jacob Beer hopes a strong end to the season will put him in the World Cup picture with Italy.
Beer last week signed for the Choughs on a deal until the end of the season, having started the year at Hunslet without making an appearance.
The 19-year-old, a former Huddersfield Giants Academy player, hopes to lift a Cornwall side with only one win to their name.
But he also has an eye on what follows the campaign, a World Cup tournament in which Beer would qualify for Italy through his grandmother.
“I need to take my game to the next level and keep proving myself with Cornwall first and foremost,” said Beer.
“I would be lying if I said I don’t have one eye on this World Cup but also the next one in France, if Italy qualify.”
Backrower Beer said that a set of unfortunate circumstances denied him a chance to make an impact at his previous club.
“I was ill, then injured at Hunslet and it halted my season with them,” he explained.
“I’m fit and raring to go now though and I feel like now is the time to bounce back with Cornwall.”
Meanwhile, Cornwall could be without hooker Luke Collins for the rest of the season as he awaits the verdict of a tribunal.
Collins was dismissed early in Cornwall’s League One defeat at Doncaster last weekend and has been charged with Grade F unacceptable language, described as “homophobic”.
He is now also facing a ban of eight or more matches.
HUNSLET hope that signing Ross Peltier on loan will help deliver promotion for a second time.
Peltier has joined for the remainder of the season from Dewsbury Rams, joining Matty Beharrell in making the switch.
But it is not the first time the prop has played for Hunslet, having also joined on loan in 2014 while a Keighley Cougars player.
Peltier played five matches as the club went on to achieve promotion to the Championship.
With Hunslet holding the same goal now, the Jamaican international hopes that his League One promotion-fighting experience – he has also lost two promotion deciders in 2015 with Keighley and last season with Doncaster – will come in handy.
Peltier said: “(2014) was valuable experience as, with hindsight, were the defeats in 2015 and 2021, even though they were disappointing.
“I’m now aiming to bring that experience to bear on Hunslet’s challenge for promotion.
“My season at Dewsbury was disrupted by injury and after that my appearances were limited.
“But Hunslet’s coach Alan Kilshaw impressed me when we spoke, he really sold Hunslet to me.
“This club has a lot going for it, not least the mostly young team he’s put together.
“I really do reckon we can make an impact in the battle for promotion, and I’m excited about being part of that.”
Kilshaw said of his latest addition: “We are delighted to add Ross to the group.
“The timing of his arrival couldn’t be better; having a few experienced players back, on top of the recruitment we have already done, boosts our squad depth and sets us up for a strong back end of the season.
“Ross is a destructive player who has played really well in the Championship this season, and in previous years.
“He’s a big unit, and a handful for defenders. I’m confident he will give us the strong impact we want – and earn himself a World Cup place come October.”
KEIGHLEY COUGARS have spent big in pursuit of promotion this year but are putting the building blocks in place for next season as well.
Harvey Spence last week became the tenth player to be confirmed for their 2023 squad after the club chose to activate an option in his contract to extend for next season.
The halfback joined Keighley ahead of this year from Featherstone Rovers and has become a regular for the League One table-toppers.
“I’m really pleased to be a Cougar for another season,” said 21-year-old Spence, a former Leeds Rhinos youngster.
“So far, I have really enjoyed my time down at Cougar Park and I’m glad I’ll be here for the 2023 season.”
Keighley’s director of rugby, Andrew Henderson, added: “Harvey is a bright, young up-and-coming player who joined us this season as he felt Keighley was the best place for him to develop his game further.
“He is a player who offers the team versatility in a number of positions as a half back, hooker, and loose forward.
“Harvey has developed his game and gone on to play in the majority of games this season, which is a testament to his attitude and commitment to his training and his teammates.
“We hope Harvey will continue to grow and develop as a player further in 2023.”
Dane Chisholm will be available for Sunday’s trip to Midlands Hurricanes after serving a two-match ban (the postponed match against London Skolars counted towards the ban, having been awarded as a 48-0 win to Keighley).
Dalton Desmond-Walker is also back in the squad after a two-month absence with a broken hand suffered in May’s reverse against Midlands.
ROCHDALE HORNETS coach Matt Calland hopes that home comforts in the final portion of the season will help them finish on a high.
Calland’s side are well in the play-off mix although it looks a tall order to catch up with league leaders Keighley Cougars.
After a weekend without action, Rochdale play in all seven remaining rounds of the season – and five of their matches are on home turf at the Crown Oil Arena.
That includes the next two, hosting London Skolars this Sunday and Swinton Lions the following, and the final two as well.
“Going into the play-offs, five of our last seven games are at home so I’m looking for us to go on a real big push now,” said Calland.
“I’m really excited about the back end of the season now, because I think our key players will stand up for us.”
Before their week’s rest, the Hornets came back from 24-6 down at half-time with 44 unanswered second-half points against old foes Oldham.
The fightback was miraculous but Calland will hope it is not necessary every week.
He said: “The key is we’ve now got to try and do that for 80 minutes, because obviously we gave ourselves a big hill to climb there. But, you’ve got to pay credit to the boys.”
DONCASTER boss Richard Horne was always confident his side would gain strength as the season went on.
Beaten play-off finalists last year, the Dons had a mixed start to their 2022 campaign with five wins and four defeats from their opening nine games.
But they went into yesterday’s clash with Oldham on the back of a four-match winning run, featuring successes over Hunslet, North Wales Crusaders, Swinton Lions and Cornwall, which has put real momentum into their promotion bid.
“This is the best place we’ve been in as a group this season, we did think we’d be stronger in the second half of the season than we were in the first,” said Horne, whose side have a break from action this week.
“We had a few players come in and it probably took them time to adapt, but that along with injured players returning has made us a lot stronger.”
LONDON SKOLARS have explained why they were unable to find a doctor for their recent fixture against Keighley Cougars, which had to be cancelled.
The match, which should have been played at the New River Stadium the weekend before last, has been awarded by the RFL as a 48-0 win to Keighley.
It was the second League One match to fall victim to the absence of a doctor this season, following West Wales Raiders’ home game with Doncaster in April.
Skolars chairman Adrian Fraine said that they had faced a “unique situation” with a number of factors involved when their regular doctor reported unavailable.
“Eid started (that weekend) ruling out several doctors we’ve used in the past and there’s also a huge demand in A&E departments in London,” he said.
“We’ve tried a number of different agencies to find a doctor, without success with both those reasons cited as a factor for the lack of suitable agency doctors.”
MIDLANDS HURRICANES boss Richard Squires was glad to be back on the touchline after serving a two-month ban.
Squires was suspended from the game for breaching the RFL betting rules, with player and assistant coach Dave Scott stepping up in his absence.
But after completing his ban, he was back in charge the weekend before last as Midlands were beaten at home by North Wales Crusaders.
“It’s nice to be back,” said Squires. “It’s been a tough couple of months for the club and everyone all-round so to be back to a bit of normally is good and we can move forward now.”
His return couldn’t be marked with a win but Squires saw plenty to work on ahead of the closing months of the season.
“We’ve got some points to prove,” he said. “Everything we’re doing is our own doing at the minute.
“We’re doing things really well and then decide to go away from it. It’ll be addressed and we’ll move forward.”
Midlands have boosted their squad with the return of outside backs Elliot Hall and Elliot Wallis for the rest of the season.
Hall rejoins on loan from Bradford Bulls to the club where he scored 17 tries in 20 appearances in a stellar 2019.
Wallis left the then-Coventry Bears for Castleford Tigers’ Reserves at the end of last year.
NORTH WALES CRUSADERS boss Anthony Murray is looking up the table again after spending the week in second place.
His side set the early pace in League One by winning their first eight matches of the season, only to then endure consecutive defeats to Keighley Cougars, Hunslet and Doncaster.
The Crusaders have roared back to form in recent weeks with wins over London Skolars, Midlands Hurricanes and, on Saturday, West Wales Raiders, allowing them to head into Saturday’s reverse game with Hunslet on home soil in positive mood.
“We’ve lost three games all season; we’re still pushing to be at the right end of the table,” said Murray, who brought in Wigan Warriors prop Ramon Silva on a short-term loan deal last week.
“I’m really pleased with how the team is doing.
“All we can do is keep performing, working on things that sometimes don’t go right and keep banging our heads on the things that are positive.”
OLDHAM have signed Oli Field from Leeds Rhinos on a two-week loan deal.
The teenager, who plays primarily as a loose forward, is yet to make his senior Rhinos debut but has played on loan at Batley Bulldogs and Cornwall this season.
“He’s played for England Youth and captained Rhinos Under-19s,” said Oldham head coach Stuart Littler.
“He’ll freshen up the squad, add to it, and provide more competition for places.”
Martyn Ridyard was last week banned for two matches for kicking an opponent in Oldham’s recent defeat to Rochdale Hornets.
Luke Nelmes faces an even longer suspension, having been referred to a tribunal on a Grade D charge of dangerous contact in the same game.
A Grade D charge typically brings a ban of between three and five matches.
SWINTON LIONS boss Allan Coleman has urged his players to seize the initiative in the big games as the season hots up.
With seven matches left of the season, Swinton look sure to at least be battling in the play-offs at the end of the year.
But their last clash against a top-six rival saw them come unstuck on home soil against Doncaster, and after Saturday’s visit to Cornwall they have two more big tests against Rochdale Hornets and Keighley Cougars.
“Nobody is going to give us anything,” said Coleman. “We’ve got to create everything and work hard for each other as a group.
“I think you learn more from losing than you ever do from winning. We’ve got a good group and they’ll take that to heart.”
WEST WALES RAIDERS have re-signed Phil Cowburn on a loan deal until the end of the season.
The back departed Llanelli for Midlands Hurricanes at the end of last year but has now returned to the club he first joined in 2018.
Cowburn, 31, had 43 Raiders appearances to his name before coming back in time for last week’s derby with North Wales Crusaders.
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