Jason Stevens

Infobox rugby league biography
playername = Jason Stevens
fullname = Jason Anthony Stevens
nickname = Stevo


caption =
dateofbirth = Birth date and age|1973|1|8|df=yes
placeofbirth = Sydney, New South Wales
countryofbirth = Australia
height = convert|193|cm|ftin|abbr=on
weight = convert|115|kg|stlb|abbr=on)
position = Rlp|PR
club1 = St George Illawarra Dragons
year1start = 1992
year1end = 1996
appearances1 = 71
tries1 =
goals1 =
fieldgoals1 =
points1 = 12
club2 = Cronulla Sharks
year2start = 1997
year2end = 2005
appearances2 = 161
tries2 =
goals2 =
fieldgoals2 =
points2 = 40
club3 = Total
year3start =
year3end =
appearances3 = 232
tries3 =
goals3 =
fieldgoals3 =
points3 = 52
teamA = Australia
yearAstart = 1997
yearAend = 2001
appearancesA = 16
triesA =
goalsA =
fieldgoalsA =
pointsA = 4
teamB = New South Wales
yearBstart = 1997
yearBend = 2004
appearancesB = 7
triesB =
goalsB =
fieldgoalsB =
pointsB = 0
teamC = City
yearCstart = 2002
yearCend = 2004
appearancesC = 3
triesC =
goalsC =
fieldgoalsC =
pointsC = 0
updated =
source =
new = yes

Jason Anthony Stevens (born 8 January 1973 in Sydney, New South Wales) is an Australian former professional rugby league player. He played for the Cronulla Sharks in the National Rugby League competition and also for Australia and New South Wales. He also previously played for the St. George Dragons. He primarily played at prop. Stevens retired from competitive rugby league in 2005.

Biography

Childhood and early career

Stevens began playing Rugby League for his school, Marist College Kogarah, in the St. George area as well as playing for local club side the Brighton Seagulls after a request by a friend to join. The then captain of the St. George Dragons, Mick Beattie, then 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 in 1991.

1992

In 1992, after being signed by the St. George Dragons, Stevens moved into the Dragons Under 21's side and 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) he made his first grade debut for the St. George Dragons against the Penrith Panthers at Jubilee Oval on 5 July 1992.

1993-1996

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.

Stevens enjoyed another four seasons for the Dragons before finally moving on to St. George's local rivals, the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks, for the new 1997 season.

1997

It was during his first season with the Cronulla Sharks in 1997 that he was selected for Australia and made his International debut against Great Britain at Wembley Stadium. The three match series was won by Australia 2-1 with Stevens taking part in all three test matches.

1998-2005

Stevens enjoyed a successful and much heralded career for the Sharks. He scored a total of ten 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 league 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 [http://www.sportal.com.au/league.asp?i=news&id=68319] ; niggling injuries are also said to have pushed him towards retirement. In his final season Stevens only made 16 appearances for his club in which he scored one try.

Representative career

*"City:" Represented City on several occasions between 2002-2004
*"State Of Origin:" Played 8 games in total for New South Wales
*"Australia:" Played 16 games in total for his country including representing Australia in the 2000 Rugby League World Cup

Entertainment career

Stevens for several years now has been a semi-regular member of the NRL 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.

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".

Stevens was a guest commentator on the very popular Roy and HG Radio Commentary for the State of Origin.

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.

Religion

Jason Stevens is a born-again Christian, he does many speaking engagements and social appearances for various organisations and churches around Australia every year.

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)

" "They haven't invented a condom that will protect your self-respect or your heart from being broken.'"

External links

* [http://www.jasonstevens.info Official site]
* [http://www.stateoforigin.com.au/SOOgame/PlayerDetails.aspx?Pid=252 State of Origin Official website Rugby League Player Stats]
* [http://www.sharks.com.au/index.php?id=107 Jason Stevens Official Player Profile]
* [http://sharks.4eva.com/players/Jason_Stevens Jason Stevens Photo Gallery]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport/hi/english/static/in_depth/rugby_league/2001/ashes/stevens.stm 2001 Ashes profile]