Alex Bishop aims to upset the Challenge Cup odds with Whitehaven

ALEX Bishop will not let family ties get in the way as he looks to upset St Helens in the Challenge Cup – and legendary grandfather Tommy.

The Whitehaven half-back may be Australian but his roots are set in the home of the current holders and three-time Super League champions.

Now 81-years-old, Tommy won at Wembley in 1966 and captained Great Britain, who he represented in the 1968 World Cup, before coaching in Cumbria.

And Alex has been getting bits of advice in the build up to tomorrow’s (Sat) test.

He said: “I spoke to my granddad earlier this week, he’s pretty excited. His St Helens accent is definitely still there

“When I was younger, it was probably more tales from granddad but in the last few years, when I was looking at coming here, I’ve looked a bit more at his career.

“I saw what he’s done and the footprint he left before he came to Australia. We chatted about what it’s like over here as I weighed up whether to come too.

“He coached Workington and Barrow, so he knows the area well and said it’s the most beautiful area to live in the UK – apart from St Helens!

“On this game, he said take them on and be as fit as you can be. If you are and you give it your all, something will happen around you.

“And I’m looking forward to testing myself. We’ll go in there with the attitude of giving it a red hot crack and at the end of the day, it’s 13 v 13.”

Whitehaven boss Jonty Gorley will be going up against a familiar face in hometown lad Kyle Amor, who came through at the club and is now at St Helens.

And he revealed the prop’s character has not changed since had him in Australia in 2008.

He recalled: “I coached Kyle with Cumbria’s county team before he even signed at Whitehaven on a tour Down Under.

“He was certainly a character back then, as he still is now. It’ll be nice for him to play about a mile from where he used to live and he’d done really well for himself.

“He went on trial at Wigan as a kid but he’s proved his talent after he went to Super League and I’m happy for him.

“I can’t remember the last time we had a big crowd of 4,000-5,000. Hopefully with the best team in the country coming here, you’d like to think we’ll get about that.”