Jason Smith

  • Playing Career

Playing Career

Vital Statistics

Born
Tuesday, 14th March, 1972
Current Age
52 years and 5 days
Place Of Birth
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

Awards & Accolades

Dally M Lock Of The Year
1999

Known Family Links

Brother
Darren Smith

Biography

Former Brisbane Souths five-eighth/lock, the younger brother of Darren Smith, signed with C’bury as an 18-year-old in 1990. The following year Smith captained the club's President's Cup team to a grand final win over P’matta but his development during the 1994 season was nothing short of remarkable. Mobile, yet incredibly strong, he displayed his talent as a ball-player in C’bury’s back row or at five-eighth and impressed as a resolute defender. His 1994 State of Origin debut ended when he was concussed after a sickening clash of heads with rival forward Ian Roberts. Smith recovered to play in C’bury’s losing grand final team and was rewarded for his season's efforts with selection in Australia's 28-man Kangaroo squad. His form on tour was excellent and although he was the outstanding player in wins over Warrington and Bradford Northern in the week leading up to Third Test selection, he could not break into the Australian Test team. 1995 proved to be a turning point in Smith’s career. After originally signing with Super League, Smith and three team-mates (Pay, McCracken and Dymock) turned their backs on their club and signed with the ARL. This move consequently ensured Smith a place in Queensland’s State of Origin team and he went on to play in all three Tests against NZ. After gaining a release from his Super League contract via the courts, Smith played in the Bulldogs’ grand final win against Manly before coming off the interchange bench in Australia’s 16-8 win in the World Cup final. Joining P’matta along with his defecting team-mates, his rep career continued for Queensland and Australia (v. Papua New Guinea) but the 1997 season was ruined by injury. At P’matta, Smith’s commitment never wavered despite a succession of injuries. In three successive preliminary finals (1998-00), the Eels faltered at last hurdle to make the grand final and too often the young club’s fortunes rested on Smith’s shoulders. He played in the final two Tests of the Trans-Tasman series in 1998, alongside his brother Darren, and was chosen as lock in the first international the following year, Australia’s 20-14 win over NZ. In the third State of Origin match in 1999 Smith was cleared of a controversial high tackle on opposing forward Mark Carroll that left the Blues prop heavily concussed. (It was later revealed that Carroll’s own hand, which he raised in a reflex action to protect himself in Smith’s ball and all tackle, had done much of the damage). The 1999 season concluded with three Test appearances in Australia’s victorious Tri Nations win against NZ and Great Britain. Year 2000 saw Smith make his final appearance for Australia, the 52-0 thrashing of NZ in the ANZac Test. Declining to take on the P’matta captaincy in his final year with the club, his career wound down after injuries and suspension saw him miss much of the second half of the season. Smith left the Eels at the end of the year to play for Hull in the English Super League. 2005 found him back in Australia playing with Canberra and he brought all his experience to a young Raiders team. After playing a key role in Canberra making the finals in 2006 Smith left the club, along with coach Matthew Elliott, and will play for the North Queensland in 2007.
- ALAN WHITICKER

Playing Career Statistics

All statistics shown in this section are based only on data available in the RLP database, and are not necessarily a complete and/or 100% accurate representation of a player's career. This information should be used as a guide only. If you see a question mark (?), it denotes that the figure is not available.

To view a list of corresponding matches, click on the List button.

Competitions

Competition   App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
NRL 210 40 1   5 167 128 76 6 60.95% List
Tooheys Challenge Cup 3 1 -   - 4 2 1 0 66.67% List
NRL Finals 17 3 -   - 12 9 8 0 52.94% List
State of Origin 16 1 -   1 5 6 9 1 37.50% List
Tour Matches Australia 10 5 -   - 20 10 0 0 100.00% List
Test Series 3 - -   - - 3 0 0 100.00% List
World Cup 5 1 -   - 4 4 1 0 80.00% List
Anzac Tests 2 - -   - - 2 0 0 100.00% List
Tri-Nations 3 1 -   - 4 2 1 0 66.67% List
Challenge Cup 6 - -   - - 3 3 0 50.00% List
Super League 74 17 -   1 69 47 24 3 63.51% List


International

Test Matches - By Team

Team Years App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
Australia 1995-96, 1998-00 16 3 -   - 12 14 2 0 87.50% List

World Cup Matches - By Team

Team Years App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
Australia 1995 5 1 -   - 4 4 1 0 80.00% List


Representative

Australia - By Team

Team Years App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
QLD 1994-00 16 1 -   1 5 6 9 1 37.50% List


Club Career

NRL/NSWRL - By Year

Team Season App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
Canterbury NSWRL 1990 1 - -   - - 1 0 0 100.00% List
Canterbury NSWRL 1991 1 - -   - - 0 1 0 0.00% List
Canterbury NSWRL 1992 5 - -   - - 3 1 1 60.00% List
Canterbury NSWRL 1993 22 - 1 / 4 25.00% - 2 16 6 0 72.73% List
Canterbury NSWRL 1994 21 3 -   - 12 18 3 0 85.71% List
Sydney Bulldogs ARL 1995 12 1 -   - 4 8 4 0 66.67% List
Parramatta ARL 1996 18 7 -   - 28 8 8 2 44.44% List
Parramatta ARL 1997 20 2 -   - 8 10 9 1 50.00% List
Parramatta NRL 1998 23 6 -   1 25 15 7 1 65.22% List
Parramatta NRL 1999 18 9 -   3 39 13 5 0 72.22% List
Parramatta NRL 2000 11 - -   - - 6 4 1 54.55% List
Canberra NRL 2005 19 7 -   1 29 8 11 0 42.11% List
Canberra NRL 2006 19 2 -   - 8 9 10 0 47.37% List
North QLD NRL 2007 20 3 -   - 12 13 7 0 65.00% List

NRL/NSWRL - By Team

Team Years App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
Canterbury 1990-95 62 4 1 / 4 25.00% - 18 46 15 1 74.19% List
Parramatta 1996-00 90 24 -   4 100 52 33 5 57.78% List
Canberra 2005-06 38 9 -   1 37 17 21 0 44.74% List
North QLD 2007 20 3 -   - 12 13 7 0 65.00% List
Overall1990-2007 210 40 1 / 4 25.00% 5 167 128 76 6 60.95% List

English Career - By Year

Team Season App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
Hull FC 2001 29 6 -   - 24 20 7 2 68.97% List
Hull FC 2002 24 4 -   - 16 13 11 0 54.17% List
Hull FC 2003 13 3 -   1 13 7 6 0 53.85% List
Hull FC 2004 14 4 -   - 16 10 3 1 71.43% List

English Career - By Team

Team Years App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
Hull FC 2001-04 80 17 -   1 69 50 27 3 62.50% List

Your Say

  • Kev
    16/07/2015

    was great for the Raiders and Cowboys. Very talented player.

  • Shirley
    06/03/2016

    Privileged to see jason during his time with hull fc a fantastic player with so many skills

  • Pedro
    15/11/2019

    One of the toughest players I’ve seen in the game in the modern era. Never took a backward step. Very talented

  • DBanga
    10/10/2020

    I think Parramatta need to recall this bloke tonight to hunt the bunnies from their holes...

  • Geoff Thomas
    21/02/2023

    Had some great games for the Maroons

  • Want to have your say about this player? Add a comment.

Contributions: Rugby League Tables, Andrew Ferguson, Shawn Dollin, Alan Katzmann, Paul Carter, Greg Fiveash, AJ Lucantonio, Bill Bates

Sources: NRL Rugby League Yearbook 1999, NRL Rugby League Yearbook 2000, NRL Rugby League Yearbook 2001, ARL Rugby League Yearbook 1996, ARL Rugby League Yearbook 1997, NRL Rugby League Yearbook 1998, Richard Bailey's Rugby League World, 2006 Official Rugby League Annual, NSWRL Rugby League Yearbook 1990-91, NSWRL Rugby League Yearbook 1991-92, NSWRL Rugby League Yearbook 1992-93, NSWRL Rugby League Yearbook 1994, ARL Rugby League Yearbook 1995