Jamaica director of rugby and senior head coach Romeo Monteith and lead coach Jermaine Coleman have named their 21-man squad for Friday’s representative clash with England Knights at Castleford’s Mend-A-Hose Jungle. The match is also being played for Reggae Warrior and Tiger Jordan Turner’s testimonial.
Turner is one of three Super League players named, the others Huddersfield duo Ashton Golding and Michael Lawrence, alongside Halifax’s James Woodburn-Hall, who has recovered from a hamstring injury suffered in the Championship playoffs.
York City Knights flier Ben Jones-Bishop is included, along with Sheffield Eagles brothers Izaak and Joel Farrell and former Jamaica domestic player Abevia McDonald - who starred for Liguanea Dragons and Excelsior Community College - and now plies his trade at London Skolars.
“We want to continue our World Cup preparation and this game gives us a great chance to test ourselves against a very good side. We will see some new faces and try some new combinations. It will be a tough clash and hopefully gets us ready for the following week’s full international against Scotland at Featherstone," said Monteith.
“We have several players missing due to injuries picked up at the back end of the English season and the sport has yet to resume on the island, but that has opened the doors for others to make an impact. We hope the fans will come out and support Jordan, I’m certain they’ll see an exciting game.”
The Reggae Warriors are currently ranked 20th in the world and defeated Canada and the USA to become the first Caribbean nation to qualify for a Rugby League World Cup.
Jamaica squad: Greg Johnson (Batley Bulldogs), Jordan Turner (Castleford Tigers), Jon Magrin, Keenen Tomlinson, (Dewsbury Rams), Danny Bravo, Ross Peltier, (Doncaster), James Woodburn-Hall (Halifax Panthers) Ashton Golding, Michael Lawrence (Huddersfield Giants), Aaron Jones-Bishop, Jordan Andrade, Jy-mel Coleman (Hunslet Hawks), Mo Agoro, (Keighley Cougars), Jacob Ogden (London Broncos) Abevia McDonald, (London Skolars), Izaac Farrell, Joel Farrell (Sheffield Eagles), Joe Brown (Workington Town), Ben Jones-Bishop (York City Knights), Christopher Ball, Kadeem Williams (Unattached)