Jason Demetriou (rugby league)

For other persons named Jason Demetriou, see Jason Demetriou (disambiguation).
Jason Demetriou
Personal information
Full name Jason Demetriou
Nickname JD
Born (1976-01-13) 13 January 1976
Sydney Australia
Playing information
Height 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight 88 kg
Position Centre, Second-row, Lock
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2000 Lancashire Lynx
2000 Rochdale Hornets
2001 Widnes Vikings 54 17 1 0 70
2004–10 Wakefield Trinity Wildcats 188 75 10 0 320
2011–12 Keighley Cougars 25 10 0 0 40
Total 267 102 11 0 430
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2000 Canada
2000 Greece
2000 Lancashire 1 0 0 0 0
Coaching information
Club
Years Team Gms W D L W%
2011–12 Keighley Cougars 33 20 0 13 61
2013–14 Northern Pride 51 40 0 11 78
Total 84 60 0 24 71
Source: RLP

Jason Demetriou (born 13 January 1976) is a former Australian professional rugby league footballer and current head coach for the Illawarra Cutters in the NSW Cup and assistant coach for the St George Illawarra Dragons in the National Rugby League (NRL).

Predominately a centre, Demetriou spent all of his 13-year playing career in England, playing for six clubs and for Canada and Greece internationally. He was formerly the head coach of the Keighley Cougars and the Northern Pride and assistant coach for the North Queensland Cowboys.

Playing career

Early career

Born in Sydney, Demetriou grew up in the St George area of Sydney and supported the Balmain Tigers as a child. As a teen, Demetriou played in the Harold Matthews Cup and S.G. Ball Cup for the St George Dragons. From there Demetriou moved to the Newtown Jets, where he played for their Metropolitan Cup side and later the Bondi Roosters, before moving to England in December 1999. In 2000, Demetriou played for the now-defunct Lancashire Lynx and the Rochdale Hornets.[1]

Widnes Vikings

In 2001, Demetriou joined the Widnes Vikings in the second division Northern Ford Premiership, with side gaining promotion to the Super League in Demetriou's first season with club and Demetriou being named the 2001 Northern Ford Premiership Overseas Player of the Year.

Wakefield Trinity Wildcats

In 2004, Demetriou joined the Wakefield Trinity Wildcats (captain) (Heritage #1213) where he spent the next seven seasons, captaining the club for five of those seasons. In doing so, he became the first Australian player without NRL experience to captain a Super League team.

In 2006, he was named Wakefield's Player of the Year. That season he scored a late try against local rivals, the Castleford Tigers, to keep Wakefield in the Super League, simultaneously relegating Castleford. The moment was captured and a large copy of the photo is on display outside the coach's office at Belle Vue.[2]

In 2007, he was named as Wakefield's Player of the Year again. He was also named at centre in the Super League Dream Team, and was short-listed for the Man of Steel award along with Trent Barrett and James Roby.

In 2009, he wore the number 8 jersey for Wakefield, in memory of his close friend Adam Watene. Demetriou is associated with the Adam Watene Fund, helping raise funds for his family in New Zealand.

In 2010, he was awarded a 3-month testimonial at the Wildcats as a reward for his hard work and dedication to English rugby league.

Coaching career

Keighley Cougars

Demetriou's contract with Wakefield expired at the end of 2010, and he was told that it would not be renewed. He initially joined the York City Knights for 2011, but a subsequent offer as player/coach for Keighley Cougars arose, and was accepted. In his first season in charge, Keighley gained promotion to the Kingstone Press Championship.

Northern Pride

Demetriou returned to Australia in 2013, becoming the head coach for the Northern Pride in the Queensland Cup. During his two seasons at the Pride, the club won back-to-back minor premierships, the 2014 Queensland Cup Grand Final and the inaugural NRL State Championship game. In 2014, he coached the Queensland Residents side, who defeated the NSW Cup rep side 24–16.

North Queensland Cowboys

In October 2014, Demetriou joined the North Queensland Cowboys as an assistant coach.[3] On 4 October 2015, Demetriou was a member of the Cowboys' coaching staff in the side's 17–16 Grand Final victory over the Brisbane Broncos.

St George Illawarra Dragons

In January 2016, Demetriou joined the St George Illawarra Dragons as an assistant coach and as head coach to their NSW Cup feeder team, the Illawarra Cutters.[4] In September 2016, he was named coach of the 2016 Intrust Super Premiership NSW Team of the Year.[5]

References

External links

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