Andrew Johns

Infobox rugby league biography
playername = Andrew Johns
fullname = Andrew Gary Johns
nickname = Joey, Barge-arse

---

caption =
country =
position = Halfback
dateofbirth = Birth date and age|1974|5|19|df=yes
placeofbirth = flagicon|AUS Cessnock, New South Wales
countryofbirth = Australia
height = 179 cm (5 ft 11 in)
weight = 90 kg (14 st 0 lb)
club1 =
year1start = 1993
year1end = 2007
appearances1 = 249
tries1 = 80
goals1 = 917
fieldgoals1 = 22
points1 = 2176
club2 =
year2start = 2005
year2end =
appearances2 = 3
tries2 = 1
goals2 = 12
fieldgoals2 = 1
points2 = 29
teamA =
yearAstart = 1995
yearAend = 2003
appearancesA = 3
triesA =
goalsA =
fieldgoalsA =
pointsA = 18
teamB =
yearBstart = 1995
yearBend = 2005
appearancesB = 23
triesB = 4
goalsB = 37
fieldgoalsB = 4
pointsB = 94
teamC =
yearCstart = 1995
yearCend = 2006
appearancesC = 24
triesC = 7
goalsC = 78
fieldgoalsC = 0
pointsC = 184
source = [http://rugbyleagueproject.com/players/Andrew_Johns.html Rugby League Project]

Andrew Gary "Joey" Johns (born 19 May 1974 in Cessnock, New South Wales) is an Australian former rugby league footballer. Johns captained the Newcastle Knights in the National Rugby League and participated in both of the team's premiership victories, the first in 1997, and the second in 2001, in which he captained the team. He played a record 249 games for the Knights. He represented his country at 2 World Cups, and on 1 Kangaroo tour, playing in total 21 Test matches for the national side. Johns played in 23 games for New South Wales in State of Origin (captaining the side to a series win in 2003), and twice played for the Country Origin side in 1995 and 1996.

He is considered by some critics one of the greatest players of all time, and was heralded as the world's best halfback for a number of years. [ [http://www.abc.net.au/sport/content/200704/s1893671.htm ABC Sport - Rugby League - 'Numb' Johns announces retirement ] ] [ [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?xml=/sport/2007/03/04/sosrup04.xml Sports Round-up - Telegraph ] ] In the Daily Telegraph on 11 April 2007, one day after retiring, some of the game's greats, including other "Immortals" called for him to be made an immortal of the game. [ [http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/4/story.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=10430301 Graham Lowe: I can see Cleary now, Warriors' reign will come ... - 23 Mar 2007 - nzherald: Sports news - New Zealand and International Sport news and results ] ] Andrew Johns is one of only two players, the other being Darren Lockyer , to have won the Golden Boot Award more than once and is the only player to have won the Dally M Medal for Best Player in the NRL three times. Johns finished his career as the highest points scorer in Australian first grade premiership history with 2,176 points.

He announced his retirement from rugby league on 10 April 2007 at the age of 32. This followed a long run of injuries, the last of which was a bulging disc in his neck discovered after suffering a heavy concussion from a Sonny Bill Williams high tackle. A tackle with Newcaslte teammate Adam Woolnough in a training session shortly after this injury forced his retirement due to the risk of serious spinal injury from further heavy contact.

In 2008 Johns was named as the 'Best Player of the Last 30 Years' by Rugby League Week and has recently been named as halfback of Rugby League's Team of the Century.

On 9th September 2008 at the Dally M awards in Sydney, Johns and his wife Catherine announced they were expecting their first child in March 2009. Johns has a son Samuel from his previous marriage.

Football career

Early Days

Andrew Johns began playing junior rugby league in his home town of Cessnock, New South Wales for the Kurri Kurri Bulldogs. At an early age it was evident he had plenty of playing ability and Johns joined the Newcastle Knights junior ranks at 15 years of age in 1989. Four years later, at 19 years of age, the opportunity at first grade presented itself to Johns as he was tested off the bench during the 1993 season in a handful of games. The following year in the last pre-season trial for the 1994 season, Matthew Rodwell, Newcastle's then-regular halfback sustained a knee injury handing Johns his golden opportunity. Subsequently he was named in the starting line-up against the South Sydney Rabbitohs and in his debut match made an immediate impact as he amassed 23 points and was awarded the 'Man-of-the-Match'. He soon formed a winning partnership with his older brother, Matthew Johns, who had played five-eighth at the Knights since 1991.

1995-2001

The 1995 season saw prosperous times for Johns, as he was selected for the first time to represent New South Wales in the 1995 State of Origin Series and in the same year made his debut for the Kangaroos in Australia's successful retention of the Rugby League World Cup in England. At the conclusion of the World Cup, Johns was awarded his first significant accolade winning the 'Most Valuable Player' of the tournament. Since his debuts on a State and National level, he was regularly chosen for the sides when fit, only missing out on a Blues or Australian cap due to injury.

During the 1997 season Johns played a pivotal role in guiding the Knights to their first Grand Final appearance against defending champions & '97 minor-premiers the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles. There were grave concerns leading up to the match that Johns would be unable to play the game, as he had a received three broken ribs and a punctured lung only a fortnight earlier in the Knights Semi-Final win over the Cronulla Sharks. However, Johns defied the odds to play, and with less than minute of the match to go with scores tied at 16-all Johns made what is now a now famous play that has gone down in rugby league folklore. He went out of position unexpectedly and into dummy-half where he ran down a narrow blind-side before slipping a pass to Newcastle winger Darren Albert for the match winning try, with only six seconds remaining in the game Newcastle had snatched victory and secured their first Premiership title.

The following year in the new National Rugby League the Knights performed even better during the regular season than the previous year, losing only 5 matches and narrowly missing out on the Minor-Premiership due to points difference. Johns individually was brilliant and was awarded his first Player of the Year Dally M Medal for the 1998 season. At the conclusion of the 1999 season, despite the Knights had slipped to 7th and were knocked out in the first round of the finals, Andrew Johns was still proving to be the most devastating half-back in the game. His performances at club, state and national level were again awarded as he received his second Player of the Year Dally M Medal, the first time a player had won the award consecutively since Parramatta Eels great Michael Cronin in 1977 & 1978.

Despite initial concerns regarding the leadership of the Knights after the retirement of Paul Harragon, and even more-so when Andrews brother Matthew joined British Super League club the Wigan Warriors, Johns was given the responsibility of captaining the Newcastle squad. The initial fears were blown out of the water as Johns lead Newcastle to another Grand Final victory, defeating the Parramatta Eels 30-24 in 2001. He was awarded the Clive Churchill Medal for 'Man-of-the-Match in a Grand Final' and later that year was awarded the Australian Sports Medal for his contribution to Australia's international standing in the sport of rugby league. [cite web|title=Andrew Johns|url=http://www.itsanhonour.gov.au/honours/honour_roll/search.cfm?aus_award_id=971518&search_type=simple&showInd=true|publisher=Australian Honours Database|accessdate=2007-04-21]

2002-2005

In 2002, Johns was awarded the captaincy of both New South Wales and Australia, going on to win the title of 'Player of the Series' against Great Britain. At a club level Andrew Johns and the Newcastle Knights performed well, narrowly missing out on the Minor-Premiership due to points difference. Unfortunately the Knights finals campaign de-railed as Andrew broke a bone in his back in the first week of the finals, and the Knights without Johns ended up losing to eventual Premiers the Sydney Roosters 38-12 to be knocked out of the season. Before his unfortunate injury Johns season had been marvelous and despite his lack of involvement in the finals series he was awarded the Player of the Year Dally M Medal for a record third time, a feat achieved by none other to-date.

Andrews Johns back injury at the tail-end of 2002 was the first of what seemed like a plague of injuries over the next few seasons, he had a serious neck injury that threatened his career in 2003, sustained a ACL knee injury which kept him out of most of the 2004 season, and broke his jaw in early 2005.

Johns created a national debate in 2004 after receiving a massive offer from rugby union to switch codes. Numerous past legends of both codes expressed their opinions. There is great debate regarding the events that transpired during the negotiations with Rugby Union as the contractual offers were made by the Waratahs without the salary top ups from the Australian Rugby Union that had been common place in contractual negotiations with previous potential converts from Rugby League. The ARU's formal reasons for not supporting the Waratah's bid to secure Johns were his age (30) and injury history. These reasons were later retracted after the Ecstasy Controversy (see below). [cite news|title=ARU knew about Johns drugs|url=http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,22359766-5006067,00.html?from=public_rss|publisher=The Daily Telegraph|date=2007-09-04|accessdate=2007-09-04]

Even without the additional monetary support from the ARU, the Waratahs were able to table an offer to Johns that was far larger than any Rugby League club could offer on their own. After David Gallop, the CEO of the NRL, and Channel Nine contributed money and a promise of a commentary position after his career finished, Johns finally decided to stay in league, ending months of speculation and debate. He says his decision was massively affected by his son, who wanted him to stay in league. He was also approached by the Welsh Rugby Union due to his Welsh heritage.cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/international/3390523.stm|title=Wales launch Johns bid|publisher=BBC|date=2004-01-14|accessdate=2008-03-04]

As Game 2 of the 2005 State of Origin series approached, the Blues were down 1-0 and Johns was selected to replace Brett Kimmorley in the New South Wales squad. The second game in the series was his first match since returning from a series of injuries that sidelined him for a number of weeks. Johns didn't struggle to regain his form, receiving 'Man-of-the-Match' honours in the Blues 32-22 win over Queensland. He was again chosen as the first-choice halfback for Game 3 and performed well, sealing the series for the Blues with a strong 32-10 win.

In August 2005, it was announced that Johns would be joining the English side Warrington Wolves on a short-term deal, playing in the final two games of the regular Super League season and any playoff games the Wolves might reach. The Knights only agreed to these terms after Johns first signed a new contract, making him available to captain the Knights until the end of 2008. He wore the number 31 (after Warrington was refused permission for Johns to wear 77) and is rumoured to have been paid around $100,000AUD per match for the Wolves. The signing caused controversy for a number of reasons: many people questioned why the Wolves were allowed to bring in a player in time for the Super League play-offs after he had finished playing a full season in Australia. The signing and subsequent confusion over the rules led other Super League clubs to follow the example set by the Wolves and signed their own Antipodean players on short-term contracts.

2006-2007

Andrew Johns broke one of the longest-standing records in Round 2 of the 2006 season as he ammassed 30 points against the Canberra Raiders and in doing so claimed the point scoring record for a player at a single club, surpassing Mick Cronin's 1,971 points for Parramatta.

Halfway through the year at the end of June, it was announced that Johns would play for the NSW cricket side, while still playing rugby league, for their Twenty20 series. The announcement sparked a lot of media interest and many critics & the public suspecting a public relations stunt as his first match would be played in Johns home town of Newcastle. Despite this Johns still played for NSW and in his first match against South Australia had a missed opportunity to take a wicket as a short pitched delivery was pulled to the boundary. Much to the dismay of the large Novocastrian crowd in attendance, the catch was put down by the outfielder. In his second match against Tasmania, Johns scored only nine runs and his cricket career was rather short lived.

Back in the NRL playing for Newcastle, during a Round 18 match against the Parramatta Eels, Johns name entered the NRL record books for the second time in the year. An Andrew Johns conversion of a Newcastle try put Johns as the highest point scorer in the 98-year history of first grade Rugby League in Australia, eclipsing Jason Taylor's previous record of 2,107 points. He rather ironically scored the record-breaking conversion in a 46-12 loss to the Eels, who were coached at the time by none other than Jason Taylor. Several weeks later during Round 23 Johns was the center of controversy. During a tense 18-16 loss to Manly, Johns believed the touch judge had missed a blatant error and in the heat of the moment called the referee "Fucking cunt". Although Johns initially demanded an apology from the touch judge for costing his team the match, he was fined and suspended for two matches for the incident. The Knights finished the regular season well without Johns in 2006. He made his return for the Opening match of the Finals in a win over Manly, but he played his last game of finals football the next week in the 50-6 loss against eventual Premiers, the Brisbane Broncos.

Things didn't start well for Johns in the 2007 season as he lasted only four minutes into Round 1. As Canterbury Bulldogs forward Sonny Bill Williams went to perform one of his trade mark hits on Johns, the tackle strayed high leaving Johns lying on the field concussed. Williams pleaded guilty at the judiciary for a reckless high-tackle, and received a two-week suspension for the hit. Johns missed the following match but returned in Round 3 against the Canberra Raiders which would, unbeknown to him, be his last career match in the NRL. The following Thursday after the Canberra match Johns suffered a minor injury during training and was referred to a specialist to examine the injury. It was revealed by Dr John Yeo that Johns had a bulging disc in his neck, it was confirmed that it had been present for some time and was not related to the training incident. All medical advice given to Johns was to retire from professional football as any further neck injury could prove life threatening and on 10 April 2007, Johns announced his retirement from rugby league.

The Newcastle Knights season would fall apart as they finished 15th from 16 teams on the ladder, narrowly missing out on the Wooden Spoon due to a narrow 2 point victory in there last match of the season. Johns tried to soften the blow of his retirement by stating he was seriously considering retirement at the end of the 2007 season and was quoted in the press conference as saying "I knew this year would be my last year, it's just unfortunate it's stopped five months before the end of the season." Commenting on his teammates reaction to his retirement, Johns noted "They were sort of relieved I think, after a couple of injuries this year ... I think the time's right," [ [http://www.leaguehq.com.au/news/news/league-legend-calls-it-a-day/2007/04/10/1175971071885.html Joey gives the game away - leaguehq.com.au ] ]

Upon his retirement a chorus of past league greats called for Andrew Johns to be immediately honoured as an immortal of the game. In the preceding 13 years, the Cessnock junior had revolutionised the game like few others before him. His passing & kicking games became the benchmark for which all other halfbacks are judged.

After Retirement

To celebrate the inclusion of Australia's Dally Messenger in the original All Golds tour, Andrew Johns had been invited to join the New Zealand team for the match against the Northern Union.cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_league/6375317.stm|title=Legend Johns to represent Kiwis|publisher=BBC|date=2007-03-01|accessdate=2007-07-29] However, due to his career ending neck injury, he was obviously unable to play with the squad.cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_league/6540309.stm|title=Neck injury forces Johns to quit|publisher=BBC|date=2007-04-10|accessdate=2007-07-29] Queensland & Australian five-eighth Darren Lockyer was invited to take John's placecite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_league/6281916.stm|title=Lockyer to star in All Golds game|publisher=BBC|date=2007-07-08|accessdate=2007-07-29] but ironically, Lockyer himself was ruled out after suffering a season ending knee injury.cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_league/6898915.stm|title=Lockyer faces long injury lay-off|publisher=BBC|date=2007-07-14|accessdate=2007-07-29] New Zealand Warriors captain and Queensland front rower Steve Price was the eventual replacement for the match.

On 22 April in Round 6 of 2007, Newcastle held special farewall celebrations for Andrew Johns in the Knights home game against Brisbane. The Knights board re-named the new $30 million East grandstand of EnergyAustralia Stadium the "Andrew Johns Stand". In addition, in a first for the NRL, his number 7 jersey was retired for the match with new young half back Jarrod Mullen wearing number 18. [ [http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,8659,21602616-23214,00.html Joey's one last good Knight - League - Fox Sports ] ] Later in the year the Knights would name Johns as halfback and captain for there commemorative 'Team of the Era'.

In June 2007, in what would be the first of his involvement as a specialist part-time coach, rival code the Australian Rugby Union hired Johns as the Wallabies in-play kicking coach for the duration of the 2007 Tri Nations Series. On 27 October 2007, Johns married his partner Cathrine Mahoney in a secret wedding on a Sydney island, coincidentally on the same day Brisbane, Queensland and Australia captain Darren Lockyer tied the knot. When Johns returned from his honeymoon at the beginning of the 2008 Pre-season, he began a part-time coaching role with the Parramatta Eels, working one-on-one with Eels halves Brett Finch & Tim Smith. In the same time-frame Johns worked with his old club the Newcastle Knights in a similar skills specific coaching role. The third club to hire Johns for his coaching services was the Canterbury Bulldogs, who signed Johns for the 2008 season. The role will involve him specifically working with the halves, hookers and backs. Many believe it is Andrews first step towards a head coaching role in the National Rugby League.

In February 2008, a year after his retirement, Johns moved a step closer to becoming rugby league's next Immortal after being named the 'Best Player of the Last 30 Years' by major rugby league magazine Rugby League Week. Johns was voted the top honour beating the likes of Queensland legend Wally Lewis (voted #2), fellow NSW star Brad Fittler (voted #3) and current Queensland & Australian captain Darren Lockyer (voted #4). The judges for the poll included league historian David Middleton, former NSW and Test player Mark Geyer and veteran sports journalist Tony Adams.

On April 17, 2008 he was named in Team of the Century at halfback by a 28-man judging panel, who voted in a secret ballot and chose the team from an original list of the "100 GreatestPlayers" named earlier in the year. Later, Johns stated he felt "the game has forgiven me".

Ecstasy Use Controversy

On the 26 August 2007 Johns was arrested for fare evasion on the London Underground, and subsequently found to be in possession of one ecstasy tablet. He was cautioned and released with no further charges. Johns initially claimed that an unknown person had pushed the tablet into his pocket which he later forgot to remove before leaving the crowded venue. [cite news|title=Joey busted for ecstasy|url=http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,8659,22332367-5013519,00.html|publisher=The Daily Telegraph|date=2007-08-30|accessdate=2007-08-30] This initial statement was met with a great deal of cynicism from both the press and the public. On the 30 August, Andrew Johns revealed, live on the "Footy Show", that he had regularly taken ecstasy throughout his playing career, mainly during the off-season. He claimed he had suffered from depression and bi-polar disorder and the drugs helped him in dealing with the high level of psychological 'pressure' associated with his career as an elite sportsman. [cite news|title=Andrew Johns admits being foolish over drug arrest|url=http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,22332422-5001021,00.html|publisher=The Daily Telegraph|date=2007-08-30|accessdate=2007-08-30] . Not long after the incident he released his 'tell-all' autobiography that went into further details regarding his depression & drug use while playing in the NRL.

The ARU released a press statement shortly after the controversy arose stating that Johns' drug use was known to them and played a key factor in their decision to not proceed with contractual negotiations in 2004. Brett Robinson was the High Performance Unit Manager at the time and has stated that in addition to the reasons that had been stated at the time of Johns' age and injury history, the knowledge of his drug taking had been influential in making their final decision. [cite news|title=ARU knew about Johns drugs|url=http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,22359766-5006067,00.html?from=public_rss|publisher=The Daily Telegraph|date=2007-09-04|accessdate=2007-09-04]

When Andrew Johns was named the Best Player of the Last 30 Years in early 2008, the accolade removed any doubt that Johns' shock drug admission the year before had tarnished his remarkable efforts on the field for Newcastle, NSW and Australia. On receiving the award he was quoted as saying his health was now in great shape. "I'm at the best place I have been in a long time," he said. "It's not until you step away that I realise all the pressure I was under, I'm not going to miss playing at all."

Career Statistics

Club career

Representative career

Achievements, Awards & Accolades

In February 2008, Johns was named in the list of Australia's "100 GreatestPlayers" (1908–2007) which was commissioned by the NRL and ARL tocelebrate the code's centenary year in Australia. [cite web|publisher="NRL & ARL"|title=Centenary of Rugby League - The Players
url=http://www.centenaryofrugbyleague.com.au/site/the-players.aspx?cat=3&list=true|accessdate=2008-02-23|date=2008-02-23] [cite news|author=Peter Cassidy |publisher="Macquarie National News"|title=Controversy reigns as NRL releases top 100 players |url=http://www.livenews.com.au/Articles/2008/02/22/Controversy_reigns_as_NRL_releases_top_100_players |accessdate=2008-02-23|date=2008-02-23] Johns went on to be named as halfback in Australian rugby league's "Team of the Century". Announced on 17 April 2008, the team is the panel's majority choice for each of the thirteen starting positions and four interchange players. [cite news|author=Todd Balym|publisher="Fox Sports Australia"|title=Johns, Meninga among Immortals |url=http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,8659,23557351-23214,00.html |accessdate=2008-04-17|date=2008-04-17] [cite web|publisher="NRL & ARL"|title=Team of the Century Announced |url=http://www.centenaryofrugbyleague.com.au/site/news--reviews/media-releases/team-of-the-century-announced.aspx |accessdate=2008-04-17|date=2008-04-17]

Newcastle Knights Records

* Most points in a match - 34 (v Canberra, July 29, 2001)
* Most tries in a match - 4 (v Canberra, July 29, 2001 - record shared with Darren Albert & Adam MacDougall)
* Most goals in a match - 11 (v Canberra, March 19, 2006)
* Most points in a season - 279 (2001 National Rugby League Season)
* Most first grade appearances - 249
* Most points for the club - 2,176

Australian Premiership Records

* Most points ever scored by an individual in premiership history: 2,176 (eclipsing Jason Taylor's previous record of 2,107)
* The competition's leading point scorer in 2001 - 279 points.
* Most ever points scored by a halfback in a single National Rugby League season (279 in 2001).

International Records

* Most points scored on international debut: 30 (v South Africa at the 1995 World Cup)
* Most points scored in a test match: 32 (v Fiji in 1996)
* Most goals in a test match: 12 (v Fiji in 1996)

Awards

* Dally M Medal (best player in the NRL competition): 3 (1998, 1999 and 2002)
* Provan-Summons Medal (fans' favourite player): 5 (1998, 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2002)
* Rugby League World Golden Boot Award (best player in the world): (1999 and 2001)
* Clive Churchill Medal (man-of-the-match in grand final): 1 (2001)
* Dally M 'Representative Player of the Year' Award: 1 (2005)
* Player of the Series - Australia v Great Britain: 2001
* Most Valuable Player of the Tournament at the 1995 World Cup in England
* State of Origin man-of-the-match: 4 (Game 2, 1996; Game 1, 2002; Game 2, 2003 and Game 2, 2005)
* Voted #1 in the 'Modern Masters Top 30 Players of the Past 30 Years' poll (Rugby League Week)

References

External links

* [http://www.stateoforigin.com.au/SOOgame/PlayerDetails.aspx?Pid=172 State of Origin Official website Rugby League Player Stats]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport/hi/english/static/in_depth/rugby_league/2001/ashes/johns.stm 2001 Ashes profile]
*

Persondata
NAME=Johns, Andrew Gary
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=Johns, Joey
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Australian rugby league player
DATE OF BIRTH=19 May 1974
PLACE OF BIRTH=Cessnock, New South Wales, Australia
DATE OF DEATH=
PLACE OF DEATH=