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EXCLUSIVE: Andrew Johns on the Tommy Raudonikis spray he copped after 'Cattledog' brawl
By Tim Elbra
an hour ago
Andrew Johns' top lip used to quiver whenever he was around Tommy Raudonikis.
Thanks to the Cattledog.
Johns first met Raudonikis, the rugby league icon who just died at age 70, at the start of NSW's State of Origin camp in 1997. He was every bit the larrikin legend Johns expected, yet he was also more.
"My first impression was, 'He's hilarious', but then after a couple of days, I was like, 'Well, mate, he's no dill'. Footy-wise, he knew his stuff and he was always doing crosswords," Johns told Wide World of Sports.
"It was quite surprising, really. Sometimes over beers you'd have conversations about certain things and he wasn't a dill ... but there was always that old-school fire and brimstone underneath it."
Tommy Raudonikis coaching the NSW Blues in 1997. (Getty)
The Blues bonding sessions, unsurprisingly, were epic. The coach, rather than telling his players to go to bed, was best-and-fairest on the pub crawl.
"It was with Tommy and the world was a different place and it was the years before mobile phones," Johns said.
"It would start at the Coogee Bay Hotel and then it would all sort of go into a bit of a haze. There was always something happening around Tommy.
"He was front and centre, he was leading the charge. If your coach is leading the charge, then you've gotta go with him.
"He was hilarious. Just funny. He loved the game, he loved the characters in the game. His stories about when they were on tour and things they used to do at Wests ... he'd always have a story. He and Arthur were really close, Arthur Beetson. He was a great storyteller."
Andrew Johns at the start of his NSW State of Origin career. (Getty)
Unbeknownst to Johns, he was about to carve out an all-time State of Origin story of his own, thanks to Tommy. An unwanted piece of folklore.
Despite the fact that NSW had already won that 1997 Origin series, leading 2-0 heading into the final game at the Sydney Football Stadium, Raudonikis wasn't satisfied. A man who truly hated Queensland, Tommy wanted a clean sweep that left the Maroons beaten and battered, in more ways than one.
He asked his players to come up with a codeword for putting on a colossal all-in brawl. Jim Dymock came up with 'Cattledog'.
Tommy lasted a whole eight minutes before he screamed 'Cattledog' from the sidelines. A scrum was packing and the stink was on. Mark Carroll licked his lips. Steve Menzies visibly groaned.
Johns had the misfortune of lining up against Jamie Goddard, with the superstar halfback playing out of position at hooker. Their first scuffle was broken up without incident but when Johns went after the Maroons No.9 again ... ouch.
As Tommy later told The Footy Show: "He went into the fight, chased Jamie Goddard and Jamie Goddard turned around and went BANG ... put Joey Johns straight on to his arse."
Andrew Johns is punched out by Jamie Goddard during the 'Cattledog' brawl in Origin III, 1997. (Nine)
Johns told Wide World of Sports: "The Cattledog happened and then I get fed by Jamie Goddard, well and truly fed.
"Then I'm on the doctor's bench and he ended up putting in 31 stitches, he split me from my lip up to my nose. I'm laying on the doctor's bed just thinking, 'Oh, no ... I'll never live this down'.
"And then all of a sudden, I smell this ... it's like a smell of Winnie Reds and garlic and Tooheys New all rolled into one and then Tommy's there just going, 'You let me down, you weak c---. Get back out there'.
"I'm like, 'Look at me, mate! I've f---ing got all these stitches, I've just been punched out and you're going to say, You let me down you weak c---, get back out there?!'
"But how do you say no to Tommy? I went back out."
Johns may be an Immortal but no, he has never entirely lived down the Cattledog stink. Tommy made sure of that.
"Every time I used to see him ... he never called me Joey. He used to call me Skippy," Johns said.
"I remember saying, 'Mate, it's Joey, it's not Skippy'. He said, 'Ah, f--- ya, it's got something to do with a Kangaroo'.
"He was the only one who called me Skippy, so I'd be walking through a function or something and I'd hear, 'Yeah, Skippy! Cattledog! Cattledog!'
"My lip would start quivering, where I had all those stitches."
Tommy Raudonikis during the 1997 State of Origin series. (Getty)
Before he was a colourful coach, Raudonikis was a ferocious player. As a little halfback in the brutal 70s-80s era, he had to be madder and tougher than the rest to make his mark; which he did to the tune of 60 games for Australia. He was also NSW's inaugural State of Origin captain.
Johns is eternally grateful that he never had to play against Tommy.
"No, no, no. I don't even want to think about it," Johns said.
"That old story we've heard so many times about when they went away on a Kangaroo tour and Steve Mortimer's the young upstart coming through.
"They put Tommy and Steve Mortimer [rooming] together and Tommy's the No.1 halfback. He goes up and there's a double bed and a single bed.
"Steve Mortimer's got his bags on the double bed, so Tommy just walked in, grabbed them and threw them out the window. Just classic stuff. He was a great player and a great character.
"They broke the mould when they made Tommy and there'll never be anyone like him again. He was just always fun to be around."
Actually I thought he was Mediterranean descent he had a Greek sounding last name, but he was of Lithuanian descent...
Lol, word filter changed it.
‘More to him than blood and bone’: Matty Johns on the side of Tommy we must never forget
NRL PREMIERSHIP
- April 7, 2021 2:27pm
- JAMES HOOPER
- Source: FOX SPORTS
Matty Johns has led the tributes for rugby league larrikin Tommy Raudonikis by labelling the champion halfback one of the greatest competitors Australian sport has ever seen.
Johns was part of the famous NSW State of Origin camps when Raudonikis coached the Blues in 1996 and 1997 – the birthplace of the infamous “Cattledog” war cry.
“I reckon he’ll be remembered as one of the greatest competitors who ever played sport in Australia – not just rugby league – but all sports,” Johns said.
“And one of the greatest ever characters.
“When you go into rep camps sometimes some blokes get there and they over-coach.
“The genius thing about Tommy was his simplicity.
“We had a side with Joey, Laurie, Freddy and Lazzo.
“Tommy would simply say “Boys, you know what you’re doing, just go out there and smash them.
“Get into them and get into it.
“The other great thing about Tommy - I’d never had so much fun as going into Country Origin camps or State of Origin camps with Tommy.”
The minor semi-final between Newtown and Manly at the SCG in 1981 will always be celebrated as one of the most brutal rugby league games of the last 40 years.
Raudonikis was front and centre as the captain of Newtown and led the Jets to an epic win.
The Jets went on to make the 1981 grand final.
“Tommy early in the game went after all of the Sea Eagles tough guys. Just tore into them,” Johns said.
“It set the tone. And they won the semi-final.
“In that Newtown side that year Tommy taught those blokes how to win.
“The real standout for me was watching Newtown go from a struggling side to a team who almost won the comp.
“It was just incredible and the driving force was Tommy.
“The thing about it is he’ll always be remembered as this tough, hard competitor - which he absolutely was.
“But he was also a damned good footballer. He had great footwork, challenged the line all the time, I think sometimes we forget that side of his game because we talk so much about him as a competitor.
“There was more to his game than just blood and bone.”
The first recollection Johns has of Raudonikis was when the Western Suburbs and Newtown champion came to Cessnock to play a trial game for the Jets.
“I remember when Dad coached Cessnock in 1980 and 1981 Cessnock had a sister club relationship with Newtown.
“So Newtown came to town to play a trial game and Tommy was in that team.
“The next day they had a barbecue and drink at Tyrell’s vineyard and I remember being a kid and going there and standing next to my Dad and listening to “Tommy tell story after story after story and just being in awe.
“Everyone stood there for two hours just listening to Tommy’s stories.”
I wish I was alive to enjoy seeing him play in the BRL. The man epitomises everything that's great about RL.
