In the latest of our Throwback Thursday feature interviews, we caught up with former Black & White star Jason Smith to discuss his years at the club in the early 2000s.
Smith, a former Queensland and Australia representative, played for the club between 2001 and 2004, and is considered to be one of the most technically gifted players of his era.
He returned to East Yorkshire as part of a European tour with his family earlier this year – Smith made a brief stop in Hull to catch up with some old teammates, attend the Black & Whites’ friendly against London Broncos In January, and show Hull-born son Jasper the city where he was born.
The club took the opportunity to sit down with Smith some 16 years after he left the city to return home to Australia, to discuss his career before and during his time with Hull, and some of his favourite memories with the Airlie Birds.
Speaking exclusively to hullfc.com, Smith began by explaining his delight to be back in the city, saying: “It’s great to be back in Hull. I’ve had the chance to catch up with some old friends I haven’t seen for nearly 16 years; blokes like Andy Last and Kirk Yeaman who I’ve not had the chance to speak to in a long time.
“All those memories I have here came flooding back when I arrived. Particularly in my first two years here, I made some great memories.
“And also, my two older kids were born here. Jasper who has come over with me was born in 2001 just after I arrived in Hull so its been a great chance to show him the city where he was born.
“He’s 18 now so I can take him down the pub for a beer and go to the footy with him. We’ve been down to the stadium to show him where I used to play and down to Hessle where we used to live.”
However, the Hull of 2020 is very different to the one Smith left behind in 2004, given the major face-lift the city has undergone over the past decade.
“The city has changed so much since I left in 2004. Obviously the train station has had a face-lift since then so I didn’t actually recognise where I was when I arrived. You’ve got a big shopping centre next door and a brand-new indoor area, neither of which were around when I was here.”
Smith got his major breakthrough in the sport in 1994 while playing at Canterbury Bulldogs, making his inaugural Grand Final appearance. Taking the opportunity to reminisce on a major year in his career, Smith continued:”I was 22 when I made my first Grand Final in 1994 with the Bulldogs, and went on a Kangaroo tour in the same season.
“I probably wasn’t ready to be a test player at the time or ready to be playing in such big games, but I definitely enjoyed the experience and it helped me on to a successful year in 1995 where we actually won the Grand Final and I got to play for Australia in the World Cup Final.
“To feature in a World Cup Final for your home nation is the pinnacle for any sportsman or woman, but I think if you ask most people from New South Wales or Queensland, State of Origin is right up there too.
“That game is built up to be the ultimate battle of state against state, and you can tell how much it means when you’re involved in them games. Its flat out for 80 minutes and an unbelievable experience to be involved in.
“I was lucky enough to play 16 times for Queensland and I gained some of the most memorable experiences of my life in those games.”
With the UK having no similar game to Origin, Smith explained the importance of the fixture to the people of the two states.
“It really is a ‘do or die’ game. Any player would be silly not to take the chance not to take the chance to play in it.
“One of my lasting memories was one of my first team meetings for Queensland, and Chris Close who is a State of Origin legend back home was in tears telling us about how passionate he was about it, and that sort of instilled it in me from that day forward as to how much it meant.”
After five years with the Bulldogs, Smith moved on to spend the latter half of the decade with Parramatta. Unable to repeat the success he found with the Bulldogs, in the midst of the Australian ‘Super League War’, Smith found himself ready for a major change.
“I was in my fifth year at Parramatta and due to the whole dispute between the ARL and the ASL, I just wanted a change.
“For us players, the game isn’t around forever and you don’t want to spend time being involved in those disputes. I said to my manager, if there are any other clubs interested, then I’d be happy to take a chance.
“Shane Richardson, who was the Chief Executive at Hull FC at the time, was one of the first in touch and it went from there really.
“I won’t lie, moving to the other side of the world is nerve-racking. I remember my first trial-match after I arrived at Hull back in 2001 – it was against Bradford at the Boulevard in January. I’d never seen snow before, but when I woke up in the morning, I could hear something hitting the window. I pulled the curtains back and it was thick snow. I hoped the game was going to get cancelled but it still went ahead.”
But the change in conditions was just part and parcel of moving to the UK, according to Smith.
“After a while you get used to it. You don’t come here expecting it to be like the Gold Coast and going to the beach every day. The reason I’ve brought my family over here at this time of year is to experience what living in England is really like. It’s not always a beautiful sunny day where you can take your shirt off!”
“To be honest, I didn’t know too much about Hull FC and Super League before I came over. Remember this was the days before the internet and television like it is now. But I was aware of some of the Aussies that had played here: Noel Cleal and Peter Sterling for example, and some of the big moments like the 1982 Challenge Cup Final. I was certainly keen to learn more about the history of the club when I arrived.”
And like many other Australians who make the move to the city of Hull, there was one factor that struck him on his arrival.
“One of the first things that struck me about the city was the people. Everyone here was so welcoming and helpful when I arrived. It helped to have a few Austalians here too to help me settle in.
“Shaun McRae was the head coach, Tony Grimaldi was the captain and blokes like Luke Felsch and David Maiden helped me settle in. If I had any problems adapting, the English lads were great too; the likes of Tony Smith and Lee Jackson. It was easy to ask them for help.”
Smith spent the first two years of his Black & White career playing at the club’s spiritual home, the Boulevard, and admits that the atmosphere created there was unlike anything he’d played in before at a smaller ground.
“The atmosphere that the Boulevard created was something special. When I played at Hull, I spent my first two years playing there before we left.
“When you had the big teams in town, there was no other feeling like it. I remember we played Leeds once in an important game and I’ve never heard fans so loud in a reasonably small venue. They sang from minutes one to minutes eighty.
“That last game at the Boulevard against New Zealand was special. It was clear to see how much that place meant to people with the emotion that game created. For a lot of the younger Hull boys to get the chance to face off against the Kiwis was really special for them. It’s an experience the likes of Paul Cooke, Paul King and Richard Horne will never forget.”
Read part two of our exclusive interview with Jason Smith later today.
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