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Come on over, Joey: Rogers By Mat Rogers Sunday, April 4, 2004
Make no mistake about it, Andrew "Joey" Johns is a must-sign for the ARU. Whoever is the new boss of the Australian Rugby Union should adopt a "whatever-it-takes" attitude towards Johns and make sure he is delivered to rugby union.
That's how valuable he would be to rugby. And money shouldn't really be any kind of excuse - the ARU pocketed plenty from the World Cup.
Joey is the best player I've seen with a football in his hands. I've seen Brad Fittler, Trent Barrett, Carlos Spencer and Stephen Larkham and, without doubt, he has the edge on all of them.
He would be capable of transforming the Wallabies from a good team into a great one.
Not only is he a tremendous attacking player but he hits as hard as any forward.
He is the best player in either code and when he is on song he plays a different game from anyone else I've seen.
His kicking game is tailor-made for rugby union. He revolutionised the way kicks are used as an attacking weapon in league and he could show some of the rugby boys exactly how it's done. What I like about Joey is that when he plays football it looks like fun. He appears to really enjoy it. It's like when you watch kids dominate in junior football - they appear to be playing a different game from anyone else, and that's how Joey makes league look.
There's no doubt about the position he'd have to play: it would be No.10 for sure. I don't know if he would have an impact on the game straight away. He may take some time to learn it, even though I know he watches a fair bit of rugby.
Rugby is a technical game, not just a game where you can say "give me the ball and watch what I can do". If you do that your teammates, especially the forwards, get annoyed pretty quickly.
After he learned the structure of the game, there would be no doubt he would make Jonny Wilkinson appear robotic. Jonny is a great player and tough defender, but he hasn't got the same running or passing game as Joey.
Naturally, signing him would be a huge promotional coup for the ARU but that wouldn't be the reason it would sign him. I don't know whether any more league fans can switch over as supporters than did last year with a home World Cup featuring Lote Tuqiri, Wendell Sailor and myself.
The two doubtful factors with Joey are his age and the ability to overcome his latest injury.
As I am learning, age is just a number. I'm on the wrong side of 25 but I'm starting to look at Cliffy Lyons as my role model. He played forever. I've never enjoyed my sport more than I had been before I was injured and I'm sure Joey is the same.
Also, he has come back from injury before, and a neck injury is probably harder to come back from mentally and physically than a blown-out knee.
He would enjoy the group of guys he'd find in rugby union. The social scene is a little bit quieter in rugby but he would probably liven it up. He'd certainly fit in with big 'Dell', who always needs a companion for nights out.
Lote and I would also make him welcome and it would be a treat if I got the chance to play in the same side as him on a regular basis.
Make no mistake about it, Andrew "Joey" Johns is a must-sign for the ARU. Whoever is the new boss of the Australian Rugby Union should adopt a "whatever-it-takes" attitude towards Johns and make sure he is delivered to rugby union.
That's how valuable he would be to rugby. And money shouldn't really be any kind of excuse - the ARU pocketed plenty from the World Cup.
Joey is the best player I've seen with a football in his hands. I've seen Brad Fittler, Trent Barrett, Carlos Spencer and Stephen Larkham and, without doubt, he has the edge on all of them.
He would be capable of transforming the Wallabies from a good team into a great one.
Not only is he a tremendous attacking player but he hits as hard as any forward.
He is the best player in either code and when he is on song he plays a different game from anyone else I've seen.
His kicking game is tailor-made for rugby union. He revolutionised the way kicks are used as an attacking weapon in league and he could show some of the rugby boys exactly how it's done. What I like about Joey is that when he plays football it looks like fun. He appears to really enjoy it. It's like when you watch kids dominate in junior football - they appear to be playing a different game from anyone else, and that's how Joey makes league look.
There's no doubt about the position he'd have to play: it would be No.10 for sure. I don't know if he would have an impact on the game straight away. He may take some time to learn it, even though I know he watches a fair bit of rugby.
Rugby is a technical game, not just a game where you can say "give me the ball and watch what I can do". If you do that your teammates, especially the forwards, get annoyed pretty quickly.
After he learned the structure of the game, there would be no doubt he would make Jonny Wilkinson appear robotic. Jonny is a great player and tough defender, but he hasn't got the same running or passing game as Joey.
Naturally, signing him would be a huge promotional coup for the ARU but that wouldn't be the reason it would sign him. I don't know whether any more league fans can switch over as supporters than did last year with a home World Cup featuring Lote Tuqiri, Wendell Sailor and myself.
The two doubtful factors with Joey are his age and the ability to overcome his latest injury.
As I am learning, age is just a number. I'm on the wrong side of 25 but I'm starting to look at Cliffy Lyons as my role model. He played forever. I've never enjoyed my sport more than I had been before I was injured and I'm sure Joey is the same.
Also, he has come back from injury before, and a neck injury is probably harder to come back from mentally and physically than a blown-out knee.
He would enjoy the group of guys he'd find in rugby union. The social scene is a little bit quieter in rugby but he would probably liven it up. He'd certainly fit in with big 'Dell', who always needs a companion for nights out.
Lote and I would also make him welcome and it would be a treat if I got the chance to play in the same side as him on a regular basis.
