BigBlog

The premiere of ‘The Disposable Ones’ went really well last week. I think it has been received fairly well and they have had a good response for it at Hoyts. With it being World Youth Day this week, hopefully there will be a few more people who go and see it.

Speaking of World Youth Day, I think it is a great idea and a really good opportunity for all Christians to come together and meet others.

I also believe it’s really important for young people to catch on to the teachings of the bible and see the relevance of God. The celebrations certainly seem to have been done the right way and there is something for everyone, including plenty of entertainment and I know Guy Sebastian is featuring.

While I would love to take the week off and enjoy the festivities work must be done and, for those who don’t know, I will be leaving my post at the NRL as their Player Welfare Officer.

I just have too many things on at the moment and need to balance out my life, plus I have also filmed a pilot for Channel 9 and I am really hoping it leads to a new gig.

Leaving the NRL means they have to find a replacement and one player who I spoke to as a potential candidate was Steven “The Beaver” Menzies.

Continuing back down the religious path, I took about 40 NRL players including Lopini Paea to a Hillsong Conference the other week. Aside from the players I had former Canberra and Dragons prop Paul Osborne for company.

Recently I got to take part in the best interview I have ever had with Tracey Holmes on ABC Radio. Tracey really did her research by reading my book ‘Stand Tall’ and I want to commend her for her efforts.

On the footy front there has been a lot happening, including Queensland winning the Origin series for the third straight year. I know I said the Blues would get up but the Maroons deserved to win what was a very close game.

The other big news is that Mark Gasnier announced he is leaving the NRL at the end of the season to play Union in France. I think it’s a huge loss for the NRL and the Dragons.

The name Gasnier is synonymous with the Dragons club and even though they have invested a lot in getting Wayne Bennett to the club, I think this will be a huge body blow.

Take care - Jason

I’m really looking forward to State of Origin III at ANZ Stadium this Wednesday. I will be tipping the Blues to get over the line and reclaim the trophy, not that I’m at all biased!

The reason I am tipping NSW is because I believe they have made some really good changes. While they’re going to miss Greg Bird, they have found someone who’s been there and done it before at the Australian & Origin level in Braith Anasta.

Braith has a great kicking game, great vision as well that long cut out ball when the time is right and defensively he reads the game well.

He’s had lots of critics throughout his career but I don’t think he needs to prove anything to anyone. Braith has bounced back each time and I’m looking forward to watching him play as he is in the form of his life right now.

Anasta is also just the right bloke to bring along a young player like his Roosters’ halves partner Mitchell Pearce. For his part Mitchell reminds me of his dad Wayne with his fitness, strength and determination and I reckon, even though he is only 19, he will handle the pressure of Origin football as well as anyone else.

The Blues also have a really strong forward pack who will be keen to fire after being beaten in the second game.

I thought the second game was dominated by penalties and I’m really hoping this game is a lot more free-flowing to make it an even contest. Penalties in Origin can crucify you as it’s such a quick game. No one wants to see a game that is stop start anyway, they want to see two sides with great attack go at each other.

The other reason I am leaning towards NSW is the fact the game is being played at Homebush. No matter which way you look at it the Maroons do not have a good record at ANZ and that can only give NSW confidence.

ANZ can be a funny ground to play on and if the weather is poor Queensland may have to forget about the expansive game they played in game II.

As an aside I am relieved for Greg Bird. Watching at Toyota Park I thought he had done his cruciate ligament for sure. It wasn’t the case and he will be back sooner rather than later. As for Origin footy, he has the rest of his career to play that.

Off the field I have been doing plenty including an appearance on ‘The Footy Show’ where I got to meet Aussie soccer star Harry Kewell. It was actually the second time I had met him, the first being when he was playing for Leeds and I was on a Kangaroo Tour. He’s still the same good guy he was then.

Today I have a meeting with Jay Laga’aia.

For those who don’t know, Jay is a really good presenter on ‘Play School’ although I remember him from Star Wars. Jay also played the Lion King for many years in the Sydney musical.

We are trying to get Jay involved with helping all the young Polynesian kids coming through the ranks as they need someone to look up to as a role model and we think Jay fits the bill.

He has a got a great, strong personality and we think he can really show these kids the right way to deal with moving away from family and also help them out.

Nigel Vagana regularly supports them, but they need other people who understand their culture and we couldn’t think of a better person.

That’s one reason for the meeting. The other is I want to get some singing advice from him so I can end up on ‘Play School’.

Other than that I have been really busy working on different script ideas for TV as well as meeting players and helping them to get work after footy. For instance I’ll be touching base with Nathan Hindmarsh to have a chat sometime soon.

Jason Stevens

I have spent some time on the Central Coast recording voiceovers for my documentary “The Disposable Ones”. The film opens at Cinema Paris in Sydney on July 13 and will be shown at selected Hoyts Cinemas throughout July.

I filmed the documentary in Columbia about the social challenges the people faced. Whilst over there we got to see first hand the major issues surrounding that country such as widespread child prostitution, slave labour, civil war, extreme poverty and the ongoing drug problem.

The experience was a moving one and I thank Compassion International for the chance to get involved.

For more information about compassion visit www.compassion.org.au

To view a trailer of the film visit www.disposableones.com

I watched the second origin game last night and to be honest I was disappointed with some of the calls Tony Archer made during the match.

To my way of thinking it wasn’t just his interpretations that could have been an issue, but there were also a couple of costly errors including what I believed to be a blatant forward pass from Greg Inglis to Darius Boyd to set up Queensland’s second try of the night.

But that’s the way things go and you can’t do anything about them after the fact. Queensland probably copped a couple of bad calls in game one so you could say things evened out.

I noticed Phil Gould failed to comment on Mark Gasnier making a couple of defensive blunders during the first half. He wasn’t the only one, but was Gus playing favourites?

Gaz is a great player but I am sure he would admit last night wasn’t his best game. He will be fired up for Origin three though.

Come Origin III I would like to see NSW selectors bite the bullet and add Braith Anasta to the squad. I have been saying all along Braith should be at five eighth and I hope the selectors make the call and shift Greg Bird to lock. I think with Braith’s kicking game it would be the right thing to do.

On the Queensland side of things I thought Petero Civoniceva had a huge game up front and really got the Maroons going forward. I thought that was lacking in game one and the improved performance from Petero was a huge factor in the result.

Still on footy and I think it’s great news for the game that Trent Barrett is coming to the Sharks next year. Trent is a super player and after speaking to his Wigan teammate Phil Bailey I have been assured Barrett is playing as well as ever.

It’s also good for the game that Sonny Bill Williams and the Bulldogs have been able to sort out the problems they have been having. Neither Sonny nor the club need any more bad press and now they can get on with the business of winning football games.

Take care – Jason

It’s Origin time once again and I’m looking forward to the big game tomorrow night at ANZ Stadium. I won’t be in attendance but will make sure I catch the game from home.

I think it should be a cracker and although the Blues are underdogs I am going to tip them to get up by 4 points. I think playing at home in front of the NSW fans and trying to get a good start in the series will see them through.

I’m especially looking forward to watching Greg Bird and Paul Gallen have a crack. They’re two great, hard players who will look to take the game to Queensland.

With the talent in the Queensland backline the NSW forwards really have to dominate and put the Maroons on the back foot from the beginning, otherwise it could be difficult to stop them.

Heading into the game I really feel sorry for Brent Kite. He played super footy in the Centenary Test and has been performing week-in week-out for a Manly team who are playing well. His omission has me baffled.

Speaking of the test I was disappointed at the standard of the footy from the Kiwis. They really didn’t perform to the level test footy should be played at and it was reflected in the first half mauling they received.

Souths have also failed to meet the standard in the NRL this year and after watching the game against Canberra last night it’s safe to say they simply have no attack.

Off the field I have been having a good time, as has my sister. She won a ticket to go see Trinny and Susannah of ‘What not to Wear’ fame in London and actually got to use her Qantas frequent flier miles for something. She had a great time and is back now with a heap of stories.

I’ve been having a bit of fun of late myself. I will appear on Channel 9’s new show ‘Hole in the Wall’, hosted by Jules Lund with my teammates Candice Falzon and Brendan Fevola.

However the most fun I have had was attending my good mate Guy Sebastian’s nuptials. The wedding was amazing and even though I was MC at the event I had the best time I have had in ages. There was a tonne of singing and dancing and everyone had a great time until the early hours of the morning.

A funny story was I had to take Guy to get a ring the day before the ceremony. Actor Daniel McPherson’s mum does great rings and she fixed him up with one.

Go the Blues!

I’ve been keeping myself busy lately and it’s been league related for the most part.

I was able to attend Craig Wing’s event for the ‘A Wing and a Prayer’ charity. Craig’s sister suffers from Down’s syndrome and Craig helped to put together a great night where over $250,000 was raised.

Among the highlights was the car trip up with my former teammate Nigel Vagana, who won’t be cutting his good looking locks anytime soon, but on a more serious note the performance of Johnny Diesel was awesome as was the dance performance of a group from Craig’s sister’s school.

They auctioned off a lot of things but the biggest was a Hummer, which I couldn’t bid on as I don’t make enough money for that, but it was quite a battle for it.

It was also a highlight to see so many former South Sydney players at the event including Ian Roberts, Bob McCarthy and my good mate Mario Fenech

Mario and I were off to the Easter show earlier that week to help out with the NRL competitions and skills clinics where a lot of fun was had.

I was then off to the Broncos versus Storm game and thoroughly enjoyed it. I thought it was a good game between two of the real competition heavyweights.

For those of you wondering, I caught up with Guy Sebastian yesterday and he’s really happy and excited about his upcoming wedding. I might even get hold of a microphone at the wedding.

Not as a singer though, I think my mate has me pencilled in for MC and it’s a good thing too as I should leave the singing to the singers.

I’m doing an interview tomorrow morning on 101.7 WSFM for my book and I believe it will air the next day so make sure you tune in.