Jason Stevens
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| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Jason Anthony Stevens | |
| Date of birth | January 8, 1973 | |
| Place of birth | Sydney, Australia | |
| Height | 6 ft 4 in (193 cm) | |
| Nickname | Stevo | |
| Position | Prop | |
| Professional clubs* | ||
| 1992 - 2005 | Cronulla/St.George | 231 (13) |
| National team | ||
| 1997 - 2001 | Australia | 16 (1) |
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* Professional club appearances and (tries) |
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Jason Anthony Stevens (born January 8, 1973 in Sydney, NSW) was an Australian rugby league player for the Cronulla Sharks in the National Rugby League competition and also for Australia & New South Wales. He previously played for the St. George Dragons. His position of choice is Prop Forward. Retired from competitive Rugby League in 2005.
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[edit] Childhood and early career
Began playing Rugby League for his school, Kogarah Marist High in the St. George area as well as playing for local club side the Brighton Seagulls after a request by a friend to join. Current St. George Dragons captain (at the time) Mick Beattie recommended he be signed for the Dragons on the scholarship program in his mid-teens and he went on to represent the Dragons in the Mathews Cup while still in school.
[edit] St. George Dragons
The following year after being signed by the Dragons and representing them in the Mathews Cup was moved into the Dragons Under 21's side. In 1992 reached his first Grand Final for the Dragons (Under 21's) but ended up on the losing side going down to the Western Suburbs Magpies. That year (while still in his teens) made his first grade debut for the St. George Dragons against the Penrith Panthers at Jubilee Oval on July 5, 1992.
During the 1993 season Stevens became a first team regular for the Dragons, playing the majority of the season in first grade and making it to his first, first grade Grand Final against Brisbane at only twenty years of age. The day turned sour though when in the second tackle of the game Stevens injured his thumb badly and had to be taken from the field to hospital for surgery; the Dragons eventually lost the game without Stevens taking any further part.
Jason enjoyed another four seasons for the Dragons before finally moving on to St. Georges local rivals the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks for the new 1997 season.
[edit] Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks
It was during his first season with the Cronulla Sharks that he was selected for Australia and made his International debut against Great Britain at Wembley Stadium. The three match series was later won by Australia 2-1 with Stevens taking part in all three test matches.
He enjoyed a successful and much heralded career for the Sharks. He scored a total of 10 tries for the club and put in countless hours in the forward pack building his reputation as one of the best and toughest forwards in Rugby during the span of his career.
Stevens also built up good partnerships over several years at the Sharks and also at International level with fellow Prop forwards Martin Lang and Chris Beattie.
During the 2004 season following game 1 of the State of Origin series Stevens retired from representative rugby league after only playing around ten minutes for the duration of the game, though he continued to play for the Cronulla Sharks. In total he played 22 games for the 2004 season scoring a single try.
Once the 2005 season began many speculated that it would be Stevens last and it took several months until any official announcement was made concerning the matter. Towards the end of the 2005 season Stevens finally announced that he would retire from Rugby League while appearing on The Footy Show. The Cronulla Sharks as well as several other clubs offered him new contracts which he declined stating he believed it was time to hang up his boots and move on to other things[1]; niggling injuries are also said to have pushed him towards retirement. In his final season Stevens only made a mere 16 appearances for his club in which he scored one try.
[edit] New South Wales
- City: Represented City on several occasions between 2002-2004
- State Of Origin: Played 8 games in total for New South Wales
[edit] Australia
- Australia: Played 16 games in total for his country including representing Australia in the 2000 World Cup
[edit] Career playing statistics
[edit] Point scoring summary
| Games | Tries | Goals | F/G | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 231 | 13 | - | - | 52 |
[edit] Matches played
| Team | Matches | Years |
|---|---|---|
| St. George Dragons | 71 | 1992 - 1996 |
| Cronulla Sharks | 161 | 1997 - 2005 |
| City | 3 | 2002 - 2004 |
| New South Wales | 8 | 1997 - 2002, 2004 |
| Australia | 16 | 1997 - 2001 |
[edit] Entertainment career
Jason Stevens for several years now has been a somewhat semi-regular member of the Rugby League Footy Show. He has appeared in various skits, segments, often performed songs and has been involved in several Footy Show special episodes throughout the years.
His participation within the Footy Show has grown as the years have gone on, this has spurred the rumour that one day he could become a new member of the panel. He has also often been a presenter for the Footy Show often interviewing his team mates both from the Cronulla Sharks as well as the Australian and New South Wales teams.
Stevens was also a finalist in the 2005 Cleo Bachelor of the Year awards (finished 3rd). Jason also appears on vega fm's Tony Squires & Rebecca Wilson.
[edit] Author
To date Jason Stevens has authored one book titled "Worth the Wait True love and why the sex is better". It encourages people of all ages (focused mainly on teens and young adults) to save sex for marriage instead of engaging in premarital sex. It attempts to weigh up all opinions on sex before and after marriage from both a Christian and non-Christian perspective also discussing a variety of reasons as to why he believes it should be saved.
[edit] Religion
Jason Stevens is a born-again Christian, he does many speaking engagements and social appearances for various organisations and churches around Australia ever year.
[edit] Quotations
"I think the point of it is he doesn't like the jersey I wear and I don't like the one he wears." (Chris Beattie on his State of Origin fight with Jason Stevens, 2001)
"We were out on our feet. I got to a scrum late in the game and Lang said: 'Come on, keep goin'. We're mates... we're mates.'" (Jason Stevens on Martin Lang, 2000)
