Ben Jones-Bishop re-run

After his hat-trick against Bradford yesterday, here's a re-run of a feature I did as part of my day job on Ben Jones-Bishop last summer.

It's a bit dated now but, hey, it's free, innit.

BEN HEADS IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION
By Wayne Gardiner, Press Association Sport
Although Harlequins' recent form has been poor, there have been flashes of light for the London club - most notably the performances of rookie full-back Ben Jones-Bishop.
The 21-year-old is revelling in his first full season in the Engage Super League having moved to the capital on loan from Leeds, scoring eight tries in his 13 appearances for Brian McDermott's men.
It has not been all plain sailing for the Leeds-born player, though, with his career coming dangerously close to being in jeopardy when he fractured his skull playing against Wigan in April.
After initially complaining of a headache following a collision, the situation quickly became more serious for Jones-Bishop, who has defied initial predictions to return to the field this year, albeit with the help of three metal plates inside his skull.
``It sounds worse than it actually was,'' he told Press Association Sport. ``I clashed heads with Lee Mossop, one of the Wigan players, and I didn't think anything of it at the time, because I just had a little bit of a headache.
``I carried on until half-time and things had got worse and I was feeling the pain more. I had a word with the doctor and he made the decision to get me checked out. It was then that I discovered that I had fractured my skull, as there was a dent in my forehead!
``It had caused damage to my sinus passage and there was a big pocket of air just in behind my forehead. I had to have surgery and they worked on pushing the dent in my forehead back out by putting three metal plates behind it.
``As a result I've got to wear a scrum cap until the end of the season like Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech does, and then I'll have to decide whether or not to keep wearing it.''
Jones-Bishop made his return to action against Wigan 10 days ago, scoring a try as the Quins fell to defeat, before adding two more touchdowns to his tally in Friday's loss at Salford.
After such a horrific injury he could have been forgiven for approaching his comeback with some trepidation, although he admits that as it turned out, the pace of the game was the only thing to cause him any concern.
``I did feel a bit nervous before but once I started playing I was fine,'' he said. ``It was the pace of the game that troubled me more than anything, as my fitness was a bit off after six or seven weeks out.
``I tried not to think about the injury coming back, though, because you can't play your game that way. I've just got to get on with my rugby as though it never happened.''
Once he has seen the season out with the Quins, Jones-Bishop will return to Headingley to link up with a Leeds squad aiming to win a fourth successive Super League crown.
As a result, competition for a place in the Rhinos side is tough, something which will carry on into 2011 after they signed up seven more of their first-team stars on new contracts only last week.
That makes it even harder for Jones-Bishop to plot his route to stardom with his parent club, although he remains confident of making it in West Yorkshire.
``Even if you're not playing you're training with some great players and learning from them,'' he added.
``In my position you have Brent Webb, Lee Smith and Kallum Watkins and you have to be able to learn from them.
``I'm confident that when I go back there, and they've said they want me back, that I can work hard and hopefully get a chance.''