Sharks great Jason Stevens’ footy feature film Chasing Comets to screen

JOHNATHAN Thurston and the North Queensland Cowboys gave Jason Stevens’ feature film Chasing Comets the tick of approval, after watching the advanced screening ahead of tomorrow’s cinema release.

The flick has been eight years in the making, and the former Dragons and Sharks great wrote and produced the comedy-drama.

Having played 14 seasons over his decorated career, Stevens has seen how professional footballers can struggle with life off the field. He even admits the protagonist is loosely based on himself.

“I think as a Rugby League community, we’ve all got such great stories to tell,” Stevens told NSWRL.com.au.

“The story of a player struggling off the field, making poor choices, he wants to be a better man and then going through the process of change, it’s loosely based on myself.

“If you look over at the NFL they do such great documentaries and even films about players that have achieved great things; I hope that people really embrace that the film is a great medium to extend support of the game and show that there’s a different side to players.”

The Cowboys showed their support for the film, with head coach and former teammate Paul Green paying tribute to Stevens’ passion project on his Instagram account.

Alongside the photo of Stevens and Thurston at the screening, he wrote: “Congratulations @BiGjasonstevens for getting this off the ground. The @nqcowboys really enjoyed the show. Good luck tonight with the official launch.”

Stevens attracted no shortage of talent, with Isabel Lucas, Dan Ewing, George Houvardas, Stan Walker, DJ Havana Brown and Beau Ryan all involved.

The 231-game prop said working at Fox Sports helped fan the film-making flames.

“Filmmaking is really my passion, and it came later in life for me,” Stevens says.

“I didn’t grow up ever thinking that I wanted to do film, but when I retired I had what I thought were some strong story concepts and my interest really grew quite quickly.

“I retired from the Sharks in 2005 and in 2006 I started screenwriting courses. In between then I worked a bit for Fox Sports, I worked for the Matty Johns Show for one year.

“I then worked for the NRL in education and welfare, but was always dedicating most of my time to film.”

Chasing Comets hits cinemas on August 23.