Life's a beach as Smith gets back to training
By Steve Mascord
February 23, 2005
This morning, Jason Smith will be about an hour's drive north of where he once planned to be.
The Canberra Raiders are spending the week in camp on the Gold Coast before the squad splits for two trial matches at the weekend. And Smith, the veteran former Australian Test star recruited from Hull, was yesterday named in their side for the main game against Brisbane at Stadium Toowoomba on Saturday night.
"Jason planned to be doing nothing about now, just laying on the beach," his agent, Sam Ayoub, said yesterday. "He likes it up on the north coast, around Ballina and Byron. I think he would have liked to have been somewhere around there. Geographically, he's not that far away."
Had he been sitting on the beach, a steady stream of cigarettes and beer would have slowly consigned his time as an elite athlete to the record books. Instead, Smith will today be putting his 33-year-old body through the rigours of pre-season training once more.
Having planned to come home to retirement, Smith was somewhat surprised when a few NRL clubs called Ayoub about his availability to go around again.
In today's issue of Big League magazine, he says even some of his teammates probably think he's too old to cut it in the NRL.
"The only way to prove I'm not too old is to play good football, and that's what I plan to do," he told the magazine.
Ayoub said his client might even play on next year.
Opposite Smith on Saturday night will be former All Black Brad Thorn, playing his first game since returning from rugby union, and Australian captain Darren Lockyer, who will be making his first appearance of the year.
From www.smh.com.au
Life's a beach for Smith
Moderator: GH Moderators
From the Courier Mail
'Old man' Smith lines up for one more
Paul Malone, rugby league
23 Feb 05
HE'S 33 next month and reckons he has missed 30 games in his past two seasons. But Jason Smith has set himself the ambitious goal of playing every game of his NRL comeback season for Canberra.
Smith, the former Queensland and Australian backrower, and his coach Matt Elliott had a contingency plan to give him a strategic week or two off during the season.
Smith says he was on a one-way street to retirement early last year when three Australian clubs answered an alert from his manager Sam Ayoub that he was coming off contract with his English club Hull.
Now his body has become attuned to the off-season pounding prescribed by the Raiders conditioning staff, Smith has come to the conclusion that a right shoulder injury which marred his last two years for Hull has freshened him for a final tilt at the NRL.
"We've worked out there are 26 or 27 games this season if I play all the games we can play and I don't want a week off," Smith said yesterday as he prepared to play five-eighth for Canberra in a trial against the Broncos in Toowoomba on Saturday night.
"I think it takes away from the roll you get from playing a lot of games.
"I had a plan to finish when I was 30 when I first went to England (in 2001), but I want to make the most of this year.
"I started a bit behind the guys at Canberra because they'd been training for three weeks when I turned up and the training has been a big difference.
"With Hull, I didn't have to get back before January, so I'd just train by myself and go to the gym for an hour or so a day."
Smith's enthusiastic liking of a good time in the years after he became a Kangaroo tourist in 1994 did not seem to be the stuff of a player who would be threatening to play into his mid-30s. Ayoub said he saw a change in Smith's application to the game during his break before the 2004 English season.
"Jason spent a bit of time with me up at the Central Coast of NSW and he was getting up each morning to run on the beach, which you wouldn't have have expected from Jason Smith," Ayoub said.
Smith says with relish that the life of a league player is worth holding, pointing to his elder brother Darren being on the verge of another season in the Queensland Cup.
"Darren is talking about having another run around with Easts and he's like 42, or something," he said of the brother, who is actually 36.
Ayoub said he would not be surprised if Smith's playmaking skills were recalled by Queensland to play a 17th State of Origin match five years after his 16th.
Likewise, he does not rule out expecting to find an NRL contract for Smith next year.
"It's the most asked question I get, if I'll play State of Origin again," said Smith.
"If I'm playing OK, they might look at me, but what I have to do is play for the Raiders. One thing would lead to the other. But who knows – I had a plan to finish when I was 30 when I went to England."
HE'S back . . . former Queensland and Australian player Jason Smith has finished his stint in England with the Hull club. Picture: David Kapernick.
'Old man' Smith lines up for one more
Paul Malone, rugby league
23 Feb 05
HE'S 33 next month and reckons he has missed 30 games in his past two seasons. But Jason Smith has set himself the ambitious goal of playing every game of his NRL comeback season for Canberra.
Smith, the former Queensland and Australian backrower, and his coach Matt Elliott had a contingency plan to give him a strategic week or two off during the season.
Smith says he was on a one-way street to retirement early last year when three Australian clubs answered an alert from his manager Sam Ayoub that he was coming off contract with his English club Hull.
Now his body has become attuned to the off-season pounding prescribed by the Raiders conditioning staff, Smith has come to the conclusion that a right shoulder injury which marred his last two years for Hull has freshened him for a final tilt at the NRL.
"We've worked out there are 26 or 27 games this season if I play all the games we can play and I don't want a week off," Smith said yesterday as he prepared to play five-eighth for Canberra in a trial against the Broncos in Toowoomba on Saturday night.
"I think it takes away from the roll you get from playing a lot of games.
"I had a plan to finish when I was 30 when I first went to England (in 2001), but I want to make the most of this year.
"I started a bit behind the guys at Canberra because they'd been training for three weeks when I turned up and the training has been a big difference.
"With Hull, I didn't have to get back before January, so I'd just train by myself and go to the gym for an hour or so a day."
Smith's enthusiastic liking of a good time in the years after he became a Kangaroo tourist in 1994 did not seem to be the stuff of a player who would be threatening to play into his mid-30s. Ayoub said he saw a change in Smith's application to the game during his break before the 2004 English season.
"Jason spent a bit of time with me up at the Central Coast of NSW and he was getting up each morning to run on the beach, which you wouldn't have have expected from Jason Smith," Ayoub said.
Smith says with relish that the life of a league player is worth holding, pointing to his elder brother Darren being on the verge of another season in the Queensland Cup.
"Darren is talking about having another run around with Easts and he's like 42, or something," he said of the brother, who is actually 36.
Ayoub said he would not be surprised if Smith's playmaking skills were recalled by Queensland to play a 17th State of Origin match five years after his 16th.
Likewise, he does not rule out expecting to find an NRL contract for Smith next year.
"It's the most asked question I get, if I'll play State of Origin again," said Smith.
"If I'm playing OK, they might look at me, but what I have to do is play for the Raiders. One thing would lead to the other. But who knows – I had a plan to finish when I was 30 when I went to England."
HE'S back . . . former Queensland and Australian player Jason Smith has finished his stint in England with the Hull club. Picture: David Kapernick.
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Inactive
im confident he can make an impact.... and im certain adamson will be good for us... i cant wait for the season
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