New boy Jaron came from Australia to win

New signing Jaron Purcell says he is here to raise the bar with Roughyeds and wants the team to better last year's top-four finish after touching down from Australia this week.

The 24-year-old forward landed from Brisbane on Monday and was straight into training with his new team-mates at the Netpar Training Centre on Tuesday.

And in his exclusive first interview on UK soil, Purcell opened up on the huge move that he has made.

"It is a 'new kid' feeling but I know Cole Geyer from back in Australia and am excited to meet the boys," Purcell told Roughyeds TV.

It was weird leaving. My family lives a couple of hours away from me so I spent the weekend there seeing them and my mates from home. Mum shed a few tears then I went back to Brisbane to say goodbye to all my mates. It was a bit of a weird feeling - it wasn't good to say goodbye but it is good to get over here and start to rip in."

Purcell is a former Newcastle Knights youngster who has scored 10 tries in 55 appearances over his three seasons in the Queensland Cup. He is now keen to make his mark in the British game.

"This is a good opportunity for me to come over and play some good footy," he said.

When I first got here I thought 'oh what have I done?!' Mike (Ford) took me down this one-way road where cars were pulling over to let you through, but once we got into the city it felt a bit more familiar. I'm staying up the road so caught the tram into Manchester and had a walk around.

I base my game on the one percenters and doing them well. My kick chase and getting through my work. It is a different type of footy here, which can suit me. It is wet, muddy, a bit slow and more physical.

It starts a lot sooner over here too so we don't get as long to build up. I am keen to hit the ground running and get after it straight away.

I just want to put together a full, healthy season and be successful as a club. We are heading in the right direction and for me and the club it is about winning."

Jaron is available to sponsor for the forthcoming 2026 Championship season, email jac.davies@roughyeds.co.uk for more information.