Andrew Johns - Retirement Tribute:
Andrew Johns announced his retirement to a packed press conference at 4:00pm on Tuesday, April 10, 2007. Johns had sustained an injury in training, due to a collision with Daniel Abraham and Adam Woolnough. Although scans revealed this injury was not serious, they also brought attention to an old injury, dating from several months ago, that could have lead to permanent spinal cord injury had Johns played on. Johns decided to announce his immediate retirement from all rugby league. Following are several articles from the days that followed, paying tribute to Andrew Johns and his brilliant career.
'Why I had to quit', Joey tells
By Andrew Johns
April 11, 2007
AS it has turned out, I might be the luckiest bloke in the world.
I'm just lucky in many ways that it's not more serious. My neck just hasn't felt right – not for a long time.
I didn't want to face the fact that something might be seriously wrong. But this has still come as a big shock.
I couldn't look any of my teammates in the eye for fear I was going to break down. The biggest thing I felt was that I'd let them down, but I had to be realistic.
"I can't let you go back." Those were the words which left me stunned with the most hollow feeling I've ever experienced.
Dr John Yeo had just finished looking at the scans of my neck, but I had already suspected the news wasn't going to be good.
Even last year I missed a game because it was playing up – and every time I had been surfing, it was giving me problems.
I just kept telling myself that it would come right and didn't want to face the fact that something might be seriously wrong.
That's why I hadn't been to get it checked out before this.
It took the collision at training last Thursday night for me to realise that I'd be stupid to keep on ignoring it.
It was only a minor collision with a couple of teammates in Daniel Abraham and Adam Woolnough – but the pain was too harsh for it be something minor.
I told myself, or tried to, that I needed to stay positive and that things would be okay.
But my gut feeling over the weekend was that it was not.
As it has turned out, I might be the luckiest bloke in the world.
The injury that caused all the pain is apparently not even related to the protruding disk in my neck, which could easily have put me in a wheelchair.
I don't even want to think about that. I'm just lucky in many ways that it's not more serious than it is from a health point of view.
Dr Yeo has told me not to go surfing. I can't even play a game of touch footy until he okays it.
He doesn't want me doing any contact stuff with anyone.
That's how lucky I am.
I've been trying to prepare myself for this day for a long while.
When I did my knee really badly a couple of seasons ago I talked about retirement and thought about life after footy – even back then.
This would have been my last year. I hadn't totally made up my mind but I was pretty certain I wasn't going to play on.
There was talk of me going to England but that wasn't going to happen either.
But this has still come as a big shock.
It was just the most hollow feeling ever when the doctor told me I wouldn't be playing again.
It's been pretty emotional. I was an absolute mess telling my brother Matthew – but the hardest part was letting my teammates know.
You become like brothers to each and every one of them and when I fronted them at training with the news I couldn't look any of them in the eye for fear I was going to break down.
The biggest thing I felt was that I had let them down. We'd been through a lot together over the years and I really wanted to make my final season with the club a memorable one.
I just desperately wanted to win one last premiership. But it just wasn't to be.
Despite it ending like it has, I can honestly say I feel blessed to have had such a career.
To win two premierships, to captain your state and country – they are achievements I will always cherish, along with some of the individual accolades I've been lucky enough to pick up along the way.
But none of that is what I will miss most. What I will miss most is just being around the boys. The friendships that I have made out of the game is what has made rugby league so special for me. They mean more than any award or jumper.
But for me it probably hasn't completely sunk in yet.
I'm going to try and get away next week and let things settle down before working out exactly what I want to do with the next stage of my life.
Exactly what that will be, I don't know – but it is going to take a lot to top the past 15 years.
I've had a lot of great support from a lot of people but I particularly want to thank my family and the Newcastle club who have given me this great opportunity.
I still want to stay involved in footy and will be working with all the boys until at least the end of the season.
But beyond that . . . who knows?
It's been a great ride and while it's sad that it has come to an end, I honestly feel blessed for what the game has given me.
Article originally from http://www.news.com.au/sundaytelegraph/story/0,,21535360-5001021,00.html
Matthew Johns on his brother
By Matthew Johns
April 11, 2007
I SPOKE to Andrew before the results of his scan yesterday morning and asked him how he felt.
He said he was naturally nervous and anxious awaiting the results that could end his incredible career.
He also commented to me that his neck was very, very sore. I asked him if he could see himself at training today or tomorrow or even the next day. He said he wasn't sure.
I told him, regardless of what the scans show, I think it's time. He didn't answer but the scans made the decision for him.
People have probably never heard of Alan Bell. Alan is an angora goat farmer up in the Hunter Valley. He is also one of the most astute rugby league brains there is.
He has worked with some of the best coaches the game has seen over the years . . . Warren Ryan, Tim Sheens and the late Allan McMahon.
But it was during Alan Bell's time with David Waite at the Knights that he had such a profound effect on Andrew Johns.
It was during the lead-up to Joey's rookie 1994 season where Alan would sit with the chunky little No. 7 in front of a television and video recorder and show him hour after hour, day after day, what made all the great modern day halfbacks what they were.
Belly's videos could run for three hours at a time. One day it would focus on the way Peter Sterling could play overs when he ball-played.
Another day it would be the ability of Ricky Stuart to bring widths into attack or how Ricky's kicking would dominate a match.
Bell's favourite was Allan Langer and he would show Andrew hours and hours of Alfie's ability to challenge a defence line and his perseverance at taking on the big players.
Bell would say that Langer shows us that being a running threat and a top-class short-ball player was crucial for the modern game.
He showed Joey the class and athleticism of Greg Alexander, the toughness of Tom Raudonikis and Gary Freeman and the all-round competitive genius of Terry Lamb.
I think Alan Bell would be so proud of what Andrew Johns became because when I look at Andrew I see all the strengths and attributes of those great halfbacks.
Sterlo's awareness, Ricky's kicking and passing and Alfie's ability to challenge the line.
On top of that, like Tommy, he was as tough as nails, having the great ability to play hurt.
And while he had incredible presence with the football, Andrew was also a defender who hit opponents as hard as any back-rower.
There are so many things to reflect on in Joey's career. His 23-point debut in 1994 against South Sydney. His courage in the 1997 grand final to not only play with a punctured lung but to also pull off the miracle play in the final seconds to secure victory.
His Clive Churchill Medal in 2001.
His three Dally M Medals – and his amazing return to State of Origin in Game II, 2005, where he picked up the man-of-the-match award after a long lay-off with a knee reconstruction and broken jaw.
But my favourite Joey memory is the World Cup final in 1995 at Wembley Stadium.
Because of the Super League/ARL split we went away a young inexperienced side and entered the final under a lot of pressure.
Bob Fulton put enormous faith in Andrew and not only had him in the starting line-up but gave him the goal-kicking responsibilities as well. This was at the end of Andrew's second year of first-grade football.
As you would expect on the bus to the famous stadium he was experiencing what they describe in English soccer as the Wembley jitters.
As we walked out on to the ground to warm up he asked if I'd go over with him and watch him goal kick.
The English supporters were giving him plenty and, to be honest, I've rarely seen Joey hit the ball so bad. He had six attempts at goal – converting none.
The Pommy supporters were laughing and cheering. Obviously the World Cup was in their grasp as the Cessnock lad's legs were going to jelly.
Joey turns to me and says: "I think that's enough." I say: "Mate, at least knock one over."
"Mate, I should be fine," he assures me.
Just at that moment the Steve Miller Band's iconic song Stuck In The Middle comes over the Wembley PA.
"Great song this," Joey says, as he does a little jig and boogies back to the dressing room.
I was crapping myself for him.
The game starts and only minutes in Rod Wishart scores a try in the corner.
Joey walks back and places the ball right on the touchline . . . exactly the same spot as his appalling warm-up attempts.
The same English supporters are hooting and hollering behind him as he moves back to his mark.
Joey moves in and almost oblivious to the roar of the stadium hits the ball absolutely perfect and it sails over the black dot.
No worries, mate, no Wembley jitters.
It's hard for me to believe that the chunky little bloke who slept in the bottom bed of our double bunks has gone on to become arguably the greatest rugby league player of all time.
You have nothing left to prove, mate. Enjoy retirement.
Article originally from http://www.news.com.au/sundaytelegraph/story/0,,21538015-5006066,00.html
The mop haired kid who changed the game
By Peter Sterling
April 11, 2007
I've always tried to avoid the watercooler type conversations ... who is the best, how would you compare in a different era and so on.
Suffice to say that the fact Andrew Johns will be spoken about in the same breath as the likes of Reg Gasnier, Johnny Raper, Graham Langlands and Wally Lewis is a clear illustration of how he is thought of in the rugby league world.
Apparently, I first met Joey in the early 80s after one of Parramatta's annual clashes at Cessnock to kick off our season.
There is a photograph where a somewhat tired looking yours truly is flanked by two cheeky looking precocious brothers. Two flops of black hair sit atop angelic looking faces, but as usual, the eyes give away an air of mischief combined with confidence.
Little did I know then that Andrew and Matthew Johns were about to embark on uniting the Hunter Valley in support of not only two rugby league prodigies but a Newcastle club capable of succeeding on the biggest of stages.
I also didn't realise that that photograph, taken in the humble surroundings of a local Coalfields football dressing shed, would end up meaning more to me in later years than it ever did to them as youngsters.
It was patently obvious to any of us who saw Andrew come into grade football that he was something special. Easy to say after the event, but if you go back to my Newcastle Herald columns of that time, you will see that the Knights No.7 took up plenty of print.
Whilst some rookies are respectful enough to feel their way into first grade, Andrew decided he may as well signal his intentions early. In his run-on debut against Souths, he racked up a personal tally of 23 points in the Knights' 43-14 victory.
After such a start, it could be thought you've left yourself no margin of error, no room for improvement. Well, as they say, the rest is history, and match by match, season by season, the performance and influence of Johns grew in stature.
We judge footballers by not only their consistent excellence but also by longevity. In Joey's case, 15 years of sublime rugby league skill is quite enough.
I'm not going to lament the fact we will no longer enjoy a master technician at work each week. I'd prefer to sit back and feel privileged we did so for so long and that it was achieved in my era as a spectator.
There will be an enormous amount of statistics thrown about in the aftermath of this decision. However, this is not how Andrew's career should be viewed.
The greatest delight that I will take is that every time I saw him go around, it was obvious that for that 80 minutes, there was nowhere else in the world he would rather be. That is something very dear to my heart.
He didn't look a whole lot different to the kid playing backyard footy with his brother and mates, just the stakes were much higher. I hope that is what has shone through to the children who have hung on his every run, tackle and kick during their early years.
If they can find a similar passion for anything through their life, then maybe we have found our footballers can actually be role models.
I'm not surprised by the decision to retire because I can tell you through experience that the longer you play, the more conscious you become of life after football.
This is an unselfish call, with family, especially son Samuel, very much in mind.
No, not the ideal way to go out, but if it is the only regret that Andrew Johns looks back upon, then moving onto the next stage of life will not be as difficult as what he may now think.
We wish him well and say thank you. Not just for being a champion of our game, but a champion for our game. The spotlight and interest he has brought has been invaluable and the real testament of a remarkable career is when you have given more to the sport than it has given you.
That is something to be proud of.
Article originally from http://www.leaguehq.com.au/news/news/thank-you-joey-johns/2007/04/11/1175971162091.html
Joey could have played alongside a camel
By Warren Ryan
April 14, 2007
I've always said that a three-legged dromedary could play five-eighth if Andrew Johns was playing halfback beside him.
Andrew had that rare ability to make those around him better. Over the years, there have been plenty of players at the Newcastle Knights who have benefited from playing representative football, who probably wouldn't have got the chance had they played with another halfback. Joey was a player who had all the skills. He would give opposing sides heart-attacks any time he was given an opportunity 20 metres from their tryline.
Most of the time, they could do little else but sit back and wonder "what the hell's he going to unleash here?".
He had such an amazing array of weapons. He could carry the ball as strongly as anyone, his passing game was up there with Ricky Stuart's and he basically revolutionised kicking with his arsenal of spiral bombs and banana kicks. He probably didn't have the pace of some other halfbacks but, defensively, he was the best I've seen.
If a team wanted to target Joey in the defensive line to try to wear him out, they generally got a thumping for their efforts. He was so powerful he tackled like a forward.
What he brought to a team wasn't restricted to game day. While there is no doubt he was a crowd favourite, particularly in Newcastle, he was also a player's player. When I coached the Knights, they all loved him. He was very big on team spirit and camaraderie. He was known as a larrikin, someone who was always looking to stick his nose up at authority. That kind of attitude might have got to a younger coach, but it was something I liked about him. It was his way of keeping smiles on people's faces.
It is difficult to compare players across eras, but Allan Langer was the only other player I've seen who could still shine behind a pack that wasn't going to so well.
I've seen games in which Joey's forwards were going backwards and he would step up and carry them. His competitive fire burned brighter than that of any player I've seen in rugby league. He hated to lose and while he was on the field, a game was never over.
He was also very courageous and tough. While he missed plenty of football through injury, he often played wounded and still got the job done for his team.
At the Knights, his teammates were always bit-part players in Joey's movie. They just got into position to hit a hole or complement what he was trying to achieve. They were willing to play that role, because it was what was best for the team. The downside, of course, was when he was out, it all fell apart.
I think the emergence of the very promising Jarrod Mullen over the time Andrew has recently missed through injury means the Knights are probably better equipped now than ever before to handle his exit - but it still won't be easy.
They have been getting better at plugging the hole and filling the void when he's been missing - but this time he isn't coming back, and that will be a hard thing for them to come to grips with.
It is a dreadful shame that his career has been cut short, but he was going to have to retire at some stage and I'd rather see him go out now while he's still got his health. It would have been sad if he had attempted to play on and did so nervously or tentatively. I'd much rather remember him as the tenacious champion he was.
Article originally from http://www.leaguehq.com.au/news/news/joey-could-have-played-alongside-a-camel/2007/04/13/1175971346246.html
When Joey set his mind to something, he was unstoppable
By Michael Hagan
April 12, 2007
WE all know Andrew Johns' kicking, passing, tackling, consistency and ability to see things on the field that was beyond the comprehension of many players made him exceptional.
But the one thing that stands out from my association with him in Newcastle was his motivation and willpower. When he set his mind to it, he never once failed on the football field.
Whether his team wasn't travelling well, whether he had personal issues to contend with, or an injury, or was feeling unmotivated, he would still excel.
One of the great examples of that came last year in the round-five match against St George Illawarra.
He'd missed the previous game, which we lost to the Warriors, with a neck injury and had been unfairly implicated in a betting controversy that surrounded his withdrawal.
Joey came out the next week and orchestrated one of the best attacking games I had seen from my team, against a Dragons side that had smashed Brisbane the previous weekend.
Then I heard later that he had said before the game that we would beat the Dragons by 50.
Then there was the contrast. I remember one Friday session when he was down on himself, dropping balls and was frustrated and said to me, "Hages this is crap, I've had enough" and walked off the paddock. I said, "that's it boys, session over". The next day he blew our opponents off the park and his team-mates revelled in his new mood.
The influence he could have on a struggling team and ability to bring those around him to a new level was unique. No game typifies that better than in 2001 when he came back from 10 weeks out with a knee injury into a Knights team that had been beaten by Parramatta 40-0 the week before and 46-18 by the Bulldogs the week before that. Joey scored two tries and set up six others in a 44-0 victory over Brisbane.
Very few coaches could come up with a strategy to stop him because he had such an arsenal of skills.
He is one of very few halfbacks who could play on the back foot behind a pack that wasn't dominating, and could still create opportunities for blokes outside him or still come up with a great kick that would give you a good end to an otherwise bad set of six tackles.
Having said that, he would drive blokes such as Josh Perry, Matt Parsons, Ben Kennedy, Steve Simpson and Danny Buderus relentlessly; he had such an influence on getting the best out of the blokes who played with him. He would challenge them at training, challenge them in a game, and he would stand them up if he thought they weren't meeting his and their expectations.
For me, the defining period of Joey's great career came in 2005.
He had had the neck injury in 2003, then missed almost all of 2004 due to a knee reconstruction and people were questioning whether he would be the same player again. In the first few weeks back he played without patience and with hesitation; for the first time in his life he had self-doubts.
Then he broke his jaw against the Warriors, the worst possible setback, but was called up for Origin II. After an intensive eight-week rehabilitation program in Brisbane, he put all that behind him and produced an extraordinary performance at Telstra Stadium that turned the series on its ear.
During that 14-week period I had never seen him play better, and he had never been fitter or more confident in his ability. He went within a point of winning a fourth Dally M when he didn't have much to play for in a team that finished last, despite him leading the Knights to eight wins from our final 11 games. Again it was that innate willpower that made a special talent even more special to the guys he played with and the fans who watched him.
Article originally from http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21541457-5012431,00.html
Joey 'let down by Knights'
By Glenn Jackson and Alex Brown
April 12, 2007
Andrew Johns felt he had let his club down following Tuesday's retirement announcement, but for his former coach Malcolm Reilly it was the other way around.
In a twist to the injury-enforced retirement of the Newcastle halfback Reilly, who coached Johns in his first premiership win, said the world's top player was entitled to feel let down by the club's strategists, who had failed to give him the support of a top-line pack.
Reilly hinted strongly that the lack of support in the front line during Johns's latter seasons at Newcastle might have contributed to the spate of injuries he suffered and which eventually cut short his career.
"One big thing I believe was a problem was that he needed more protection," said Reilly, the former Great Britain forward who coached Newcastle between 1995 and 1998, including the 1997 grand final win over Manly.
"When I was involved we had a very strong pack and we were aware that with an asset like [Johns] in our team, we had to protect him. I don't know if he got that protection from the club later on. He is a good defender and very courageous and he could get over-involved in a game.
"The people around him needed to protect him. Sometimes it takes the forwards to come over to a player and say, 'look, I'll do that', to give them a break. The club was so reliant on Andrew for such a long time, and in the long run maybe that wasn't such a good thing.
"The stats showed how much they struggled to win when he wasn't around and that can be a coach's nightmare. It would have been better if the responsibility was spread more evenly. Looking at the bigger picture, it's not a great situation." Johns's latter seasons were plagued by injury.
The neck problem which ended his career on Tuesday was only the tip of the iceberg. It was preceded by knee and jaw injuries and more serious neck damage.
Reilly also conceded Johns's enthusiasm might have come at a price - one of the traits which made him one of the game's greats counting towards his downfall.
"Maybe sometimes he shouldn't have been so enthusiastic," Reilly said. "But sometimes it's difficult stopping him.
"He's taken the knocks. It might be no one's fault but his own enthusiasm. It's a bloody hard game and it's not getting any softer."
Former Test and Origin firebrand Gorden Tallis, who was also forced out of the game because of a neck injury, echoed Reilly's thoughts, saying: "Joey would take on the US Army. He was like [former Brisbane halfback] Allan Langer - nothing worries him. For someone to take the line on so many times, it's going to get you in the end."
Both players continued the high praise of Johns. While Reilly described Johns as the "most complete footballer I've seen", putting him even above Bob Fulton, a former teammate at Manly. Tallis said he was the "Wally Lewis of our time".
"Wally Lewis had everything in the game," Tallis said. "The great players - some of them have speed, some of them can score a try, they can read a game. Andrew Johns has got a tick in most of the boxes, if not all of them. That's what Wally Lewis had. As a Queenslander I could say he was the NSW version of Wally."
Fulton and Lewis are immortals of the game, but Johns may have to wait before he is inducted into the group, however logical his admission would seem.
Rugby League Week might announce an eighth immortal next year - to coincide with the game's centenary celebrations - but editor Martin Lenehan said Johns was no shoo-in.
While there are no criteria to stop Johns joining the group - which comprises Fulton, Lewis, Arthur Beetson, John Raper, Clive Churchill, Graeme Langlands and Reg Gasnier - next year, players generally are not selected until well after retirement.
"We should be in a position to be flexible, but we won't be rushing to put him in there tomorrow," Lenehan said.
Article originally from http://www.leaguehq.com.au/news/news/joey-let-down-by-knights/2007/04/11/1175971178690.html
Johns greatest ever
By Neil Cadigan
April 13, 2007
MY first memories of Andrew Johns the footballer were in 1992-93 when I was one of many "in the know" who wanted to tell all and sundry about how good this kid from Cessnock was after watching him regularly carve up opponents alongside older brother Matthew in the Newcastle Knights' reserve grade team.
I can still see his larrikin smile and laidback demeanour after the first of his thousand media bombardments in the Aussie Stadium dressing room, round one, March 13 1994. He had just scored 23 points from two tries, seven goals and a field goal in his run-on debut, a 43-15 victory over a Souths side that had just won the Tooheys Challenge pre-season competition.
It would have been eight goals from eight but his final attempt, from the touchline and into the wind, hit the upright.
I can picture his first top-grade try. He dummied, put on a right-foot step, then a left-hand fend from about 25m. It became the signature close-to-the-line play of his career.
"I suppose it was a dream debut," he said with laconic understatement and the cheeky smile that we all became used to.
"Now I know what David Waite meant," he continued, referring to coach Waite's message that he could not have asked for better circumstances for a debut with a big, tough pack in front of him and his brother Matthew calling the shots beside him.
But it did not stop Waite rooming the 19-year-old with experienced prop Tony Butterfield the night before, to ensure he remained calm.
Within two months the Johns brothers had changed the Knights forever; converted them from a dour forward-dominated team with the one double-decoy set play into a side that could shift the ball 40m across field in a second and a half through the hands of two men.
So much has been said these past few days about Joey's 13 years of excellence that followed.
But what has been overlooked in the eulogising are the unique contradictions in his marvellous career all along the way.
Here is someone who was not good enough to make the 1991-92 Australian Schoolboys squad that produced just one international, one-Test man Michael Buettner, despite providing a host of good first-graders like Ken Nagas, Josh Stuart, Sean Ryan and Jack Elsegood.
"Joey" was dumped as goalkicker in Peter Sharp's winning Jersey Flegg team the next year, yet went on to become the greatest points-scorer of all time.
Knights insiders were horrified that he might waste a potential outstanding career because of a poor attitude when he first joined the club – only for him to set a new benchmark for hard work as a disciplined trainer and driver of teammates.
He has had more written and said about him in the media than any other footballer of his time, yet feels uncomfortable in that limelight and often begged reporters to write about teammates instead of him.
He has yearned to be a pure footballer and not have to endure the fame that surrounds the role, yet he is managed by the man without peer in "working" the media and off-field career in John Fordham, and has contracts with both Channel 9 and News Limited.
While players of today are typecast as being driven by the dollar, Joey stayed with the Knights despite opportunities to earn massively greater money elsewhere. The greatest player of his time was never the greatest earner.
He was a reluctant captain yet skippered Newcastle to a premiership, NSW to two Origin series wins and Australia to their biggest victory over Great Britain in history (64-10 in Sydney in 2002) after a debate raged whether he was fit enough "off-field" to take on the pinnacle responsibility.
In an era where halfbacks became faster than whippets and athletes outnumbered footballers, Johns was neither quick nor athletic.
He brought space and time with instinct and his intense understanding of the game.
Then there is the fact that the man who is unarguably the best No. 7 of all time was "relegated" to hooker for both New South Wales and Australia – a tribute to his versatility but a historic slur on his standing in the game.
Having said that, unlike fellow legend Wally Lewis, he knows he did not dominate at representative level like he should have until his last five years.
He also defied the adage that a halfback in the modern day can only succeed if his forwards provide him space and momentum.
No other halfback could make that as irrelevant as he did. He could play off "the back foot" and provide the momentum himself.
In the 30 years I have been a professional observer of the game, only Peter Sterling and Allan Langer could boast as great an individual influence on any game of football – weekly – despite being the focal point of every coach's "stop him" directives.
But even they did not match Johns' ability to convert even modest teammates to such a lift in performance. He made good first graders into Origin players or internationals.
What places him apart from a lot of his contemporaries too is his genuine humbleness.
He may have travelled down the highway from the modest South Avenue, Cessnock, home where his parents Gary and Gayle still live, to a magnificent seaside house at Merewether, but he is basically the same country lad who departed on the road to super-stardom.
However, the one thing that should not create any contradiction in the career of Andrew Johns is that he should be recognised as truly the greatest player of all time.
If you consider the two most legitimate criteria that players of different eras can only be matched on – recorded achievement and consistency over a prolonged period – he is in the top three or four. If you add the subject of the breadth of any player's individual game, then he becomes the dux.
Andrew Johns is the only player to win three Dally Ms; he won two Golden Boots as the world's best; he played in two grand finals, winning one in the 80th minute, exhausted after being in a hospital bed days earlier (in 1997), then taking the Clive Churchill Medal in the other (2001).
But what has also been overlooked is that Johns ran second in the Dally M tally on three other occasions (although disqualified in 2001 after being suspended), including during his second season of first grade in 1995. He also finished equal third in season 2000.
That means that in the eight seasons in which he did not miss a lot of games through injury, Johns finished in the top three on six occasions and won the Provan-Summons Medal (people's choice) five times to boot.
No, let's stop the argument now; he is the greatest – greater than anyone back in 1992 could have ever contemplated.
* Neil Cadigan is a respected rugby league journalist with 30 years experience and is co-author of Andrew Johns' upcoming autobiography.
Article originally from http://www.news.com.au/sundaytelegraph/story/0,,21546174-5012665,00.html
What they said about Andrew Johns
April 11, 2007
Quotes following Andrew Johns' shock retirement from rugby league.
"I've had a fairytale career. I consider myself very lucky and I never take for granted what I've done." - Andrew Johns.
"I realised how lucky I am that I haven't had a serious neck injury or a serious accident and be in a wheelchair." - Johns again.
"While his pain at the moment is not a great problem, he's at serious risk of a catastrophic spinal injury if he plays on. On that basis we've advised him to retire from football forthwith." - Knights club doctor Neil Halpin.
"It's a tremendous loss to rugby league and to the Newcastle Knights. He must, at the appropriate time, join the other Immortals of rugby league but I know Joey's fans will wish him well." - Prime Minister John Howard.
"Joey brought the best out of you as a player. As a halfback, he had everything." - Queensland's own No.7 legend Allan Langer.
"He held every facet of the game so there's no doubt he'll become an Immortal." - Recently retired champion five-eighth Brad Fittler.
"He's arguably the best player to have played the game in the last 20 to 25 years. You look at a guy like Wally Lewis ... but there was just something very special about Joey." - Parramatta legend Brett Kenny.
"He was the innovator of a lot of kicks we take for granted these days like the banana kick. He started it all. It was amazing the things he could do with a football." - Kenny again.
"For 15 years he has been a colossal figure in our game." - NRL chief executive Geoff Gallop.
"He was a wonderful player, ultra talented, great skills and he had a great mind for the game. There is a life after football and he will enjoy that." - Brisbane coach Wayne Bennett.
"I'm sure he's got a lot more to contribute to the game of rugby league not only as a commentator but perhaps a coach in the future." - ARL Chief Executive Geoff Carr.
"Rugby league, like every other sport needs its heroes, and to lose a hero like Johns is really sad. I'm sure every opposing coach would have done more homework on him than on the rest of the team put together." - Former Kiwis coach Frank Endacott.
Article originally from http://www.leaguehq.com.au/news/news/what-they-said-about-andrew-johns/2007/04/11/1175971145745.html
Joey millimetres from wheelchair
By Barry Toohey
April 12, 2007
TO most people this looks just like any old X-ray.
But to Andrew Johns, it was the difference between walking away from rugby league or risking life in a wheelchair.
Johns agreed to release the scan to The Daily Telegraph yesterday.
It shows a large bulging disc putting pressure on the spinal cord in his neck.
What is not evident to most people though is just how close this degenerate disc is to severing his spinal cord and rendering Johns a paraplegic or quadriplegic.
Because the disc is already pressing on the spinal cord, even a millimetre of movement would have given Johns significant pain and weakness in his limbs.
And even worse, if the disc had protruded another centimetre it would have resulted in the potentially "catastrophic" injury that shocked Knights specialist Neil Halpin – and led to Johns' retirement.
Rugby league's greatest player was yesterday still coming to grips with his decision to walk away from the game he loves. He admitted retirement won't fully hit him until his neck improves.
"When it's feeling good again and I still can't play, that is when it is going to hurt the most," Johns said.
"That's a hurdle I am going to have to get over. But that's nothing compared to ending up in a wheelchair.
"That part of it is very scary.
"When that came up, it really put everything pretty quickly into perspective.
"I think the doctors were pretty shocked to be honest when they saw the scan.
"There wasn't really much of a decision to make after that."
Halpin said he was thankful Johns had made the decision to walk away rather than take his chances. The Newcastle doctor was yesterday reluctant to be quoted further on his diagnosis but made a point of stating just how lucky Johns was.
The protruding disc was not causing Johns any discomfort and it was not even the reason why he had the scan in the first place.
Calcification discovered within the disc proved that the injury wasn't new – meaning Johns had been playing with a time bomb in his neck for at least some months.
Halpin stressed that because the disc injury was old, the round-one tackle by Sonny Bill Williams could not possibly be blamed for Johns' forced retirement.
Johns had a similar disc protrusion four years ago but this week's scan showed it had fully corrected itself.
However, hoping that this injury would do the same was not an option.
This is because Johns had multiple degenerative changes along the length of his spine.
These included boney spurs, arthritic changes to the facet joints that stabilise the spine and narrow joint spaces.
Because of these abnormalities, even surgery would have only partly fixed the problem.
And Johns still had neck pain since being bumped at training last week.
This pain was due to an inflamed facet joint on the right side of the spine in his neck.
The symptoms were as disconcerting as they were discomforting because when Halpin put pressure over this damaged area, Johns experienced stabbing pain transferred to the muscles at the front of his right thigh.
Johns' body had indeed paid a high price for 15 years of excellence.
Article originally from http://www.news.com.au/sundaytelegraph/story/0,,21540711-5006066,00.html