Jason Stafford (born 5 July 1967) is an Australian former professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s. He played for the

Western Suburbs Magpies The Western Suburbs Magpies (legal name: Western Suburbs District Rugby League Football Club Ltd) are an Australian rugby league football club based in the western suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales. Formed in 1908, Wests, as they are commonly r ...

and

Past Brothers The Past Brothers Rugby League Football Club, or Brisbane Brothers Rugby League Football Club nicknamed the Leprechauns, or more commonly known as Brothers, or as The Brethren, was a rugby league club based in the city of Brisbane, Australia, t ...

Club career

Stafford made his first-grade debut with

in the

Brisbane Rugby League premiership The Brisbane Rugby League is a rugby league football competition in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was first held in 1922 and for every year until 1997. The competition was reinstated in 2001, known as the FOGS premiership under the Quee ...

in 1987 as a 19-year-old. He scored 2 tries over the course of the season, playing in the centres, but was not a member of the team that won the grand final that year. In 1988, Stafford joined the

in the

NSWRL The New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL) is the governing body of rugby league in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory and is a member of the Australian Rugby League Commission. It was formed in Sydney on 8 August 1907 and was ...

. He made his debut from the bench on 27 March against the

Balmain Tigers The Balmain Tigers (also known as the Sydney Tigers from 1995–96) are a rugby league club based in the inner-western Sydney suburb of Balmain. They were a founding member of the New South Wales Rugby League and one of the most successful in t ...

. A week later he made his debut in the centres against the

North Sydney Bears The North Sydney Bears is an Australian rugby league football club based in North Sydney, New South Wales. The club competes in the New South Wales Cup, having exited the National Rugby League following the 1999 NRL season after 90 years in the ...

, also scoring a try. He scored a double in round 7 and again in round 8, where he received attention when he scored an 80 metre try with one shoe missing. Stafford finished the season with 9 tries from his 15 games, making him the club's highest tryscorer - the next closest with 4. Failing to score in his 4 games on the wing, he had 9 from 11 in the centres. For the 1989 season, Stafford was described as one of the "nobodies" who provided "great hope for the future" for Wests. In the starting team from round 1 this year, he played in 19 games but only scored 2 tries. He was still said to have "revelled" alongside the club's English imports

Ellery Hanley Cuthwyn Ellery Hanley MBE (born 27 March 1961) is an English former rugby league player and coach. Over a nineteen-year professional career (1978–1997), he played for Bradford Northern, Wigan, Balmain, Western Suburbs and Leeds. He won 36 ...

and

Garry Schofield Garry Edward Schofield OBE (born 1 July 1965) is an English former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s, and is a member of the British Rugby League Hall of Fame. At the time of his retirement he was the most ...

. The 1990 season started with Stafford being awarded Man of the Match in the first round of the pre-season

Challenge Cup The Challenge Cup is a knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, with the exception of 1915–1919 and 1939–1940, due to World War I and World War II respectively. It involves am ...

After missing the start of the regular season, the "big stylish centre" returned with another double in "spectacular fashion" in round 4. Scoring 4 tries in his first 3 matches of the season, club coach John Bailey was saying that Stafford had a chance of forcing his way into the

Queensland State of Origin The Queensland rugby league team represents the Australian state of Queensland in rugby league football. Nicknamed the "Maroons" after the colour of their jersey, they play three times a year against arch-rivals New South Wales in the State of O ...

team for that year. He soon after suffered a cruciate ligament injury and never played in the competition again, despite being taken by

St. George Dragons The St. George Dragons is an Australian rugby league football club from St George District in Sydney, New South Wales that played in the top level New South Wales competition and Australian Rugby League competitions from the 1921 until the ...

in the 1991 draft.

References

* Whiticker, Alan and Hudson, Glen; ''The Encyclopedia of Rugby League Players''; published 2005 by BAS publishing, f16/171 Collins St, Melbourne, Vic., 3000 {{DEFAULTSORT:Stafford, Jason 1967 births Living people Past Brothers players Rugby league centres Rugby league players from Queensland Rugby league wingers Western Suburbs Magpies players Place of birth missing (living people)