No stopping Jason Smith at 35
Adam Sutcliffe - NRLnews.com - 14/3/07
The elder statesman of the NRL - Jason Smith today turned 35 and shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon.
Smith is the eldest player in the NRL today, and is only 5 years shy of the all time Rugby League age record.
The oldest Rugby League player in Australia was Billy Wilson who played until the ripe old age of 40.
Smith is closely followed by Ruben Wiki at 34, Danny Nutley, David Peachy and Steve Price all at 33 years old.
Jason Smith has obviously seen a lot in his 17 years of NRL. When he debuted for the Bulldogs in 1990, there was no where near the pressure or the scrutiny we see in League today - and the training would only involve a few runs through the week. As his birthday neared, Smith copped flak from his Cowboys team mates through the week, as they realised some of them were only in nappies when Jason played his first League game for the Bulldogs.
Known for his vice's - Smith has said he has cut back to 2 packs of Cigarettes a day and now settles for only a 6 pack after training or games. Smiths carefree attitude is refreshing in the age of cloned Rugby League products.
When asked about the future, Smith said he has hopes to potentially play another year with the Cowboys if injury and stamina permits. While he may be 35 and a few lengths short on pace, Smith is able to create time and space like no other in the NRL.
A true craftsman of the game, his creativity will be invaluable to the Cowboys in 2007 - and if his combination with Thurston continues to develop, happy times are to be had by the Cowboys faithful.
