How long have you been with the Northstars?

I couldn’t give you the exact years. Maybe seven. Maybe eight. I've been in and out. I have played at the end of one year, I played five games. I am pretty sure it was with (Brian) Bales, (Peter) Cartwright and Chewey (Justin Chwedoruk)... (Matt) Ezzy still in net. I think it was part of Melbourne Ice’s three-peat.

I had a year off after that to play East Coast. I got to play with a lot of the guys I played with when I was younger. 

(Editors note: Jayse first played in 2010. He has played consistently for the Northstars since 2012.)

What do you do when you’re not playing hockey?

Working and coaching. I travel a lot. I am up here Monday to Thursday nights and if we play up here, Saturday and Sunday.

So are you moving up here?

I did actually look at a place in Redhead, the only issue is finding work. If you know anyone in the fitness industry, I am hoping to get my foot in the door with that! I have completed my Cert 3 and 4 in fitness, which qualifies me to be a gym instructor or personal trainer. I haven’t had time to do any of it yet.

You coach a few different levels. What is your favourite thing about coaching?

I don’t really know actually. When I first started I had no coaching like the stuff we do with NSA with John, Dave and Mat with Mel (Matheson) and Steve Lindsay.

I never had anything like that. It feels good to be able to give that back because I never got it. If I can help, I will try and help. It feels good to pass on how to play the game and how I think you should stand on two feet and try and skate.

It’s a really deep game, there are a lot of elements and different things you’ve got to work on.

You have given gridiron a go, too, haven't you?

Last summer was my second season of playing gridiron. It is a completely different sport. Its pretty cool. It's not high intense like hockey.

You have 30 seconds and you get off and go back on in two minutes. Whether you’re on offence or defence you need to make ground or you get ground taken on you. It's a different kind of sore but it is rewarding when you succeed at it.

In a zombie apocalypse what would your weapon of choice be?

A sword would be nice, but I don’t have a sword, so probably a hockey stick. Or a hockey skate. I would probably go to an oil platform, out on the ocean and up high away from everyone else. Night shift with one of my bosses, we’ve had some discussions before about this.

What is your favourite hockey movie?

Oh there are a few. Miracle easily has to be up there. I did enjoy Mystery Alaska, but Miracle yeah. Skating down a mountain would be fun but I would definitely fall over.

Favourite NHL team and player?

Philadelphia Flyers. Simon Gagné is one of my favourite players. I actually got to meet him when I was in Quebec.

How did you find meeting him?

It was actually random. I didn’t realise he was at the rink signing autographs. I saw him and was like “oh my god”, and the kids were like “what?” I asked “do you know who this is?” and they were like “no”.

I fangirled hard. I got his autograph and a photo and he asked me where I was from because of my accent, which was pretty cool.

What inspired you to play hockey?

I played inline hockey for a number of years before I knew ice hockey existed. The only reason I found out about it was because Erina had a rink.

Me and my brother, Ben, played on the same team for a while at inline, but council kept shutting the rinks down. I skated for a full 14 months in blue skates before I bought my own.

What would you tell someone about hockey, who knew nothing about it, to get them interested?

I would definitely bring them to a game and that’s pretty much enough to get them hooked, or get them on the ice skating.

If you had the chance to spend a day with someone living or dead who would it be?

Maybe Dwayne Johnson. The Rock. He seems interesting, very successful. He trains hard and look at where its gotten him.