Ash Johnson to debut for Sturt a day before brother Shane McAdam plays first game for Crows

As the brother of an Adelaide Crows player, cousin of a Gold Coast Suns recruit and part of a growing list of raw talent from a remote WA town, Ash Johnson is ready to make his mark with Sturt.

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Meet Ash Johnson — the brother of an AFL footballer with raw talent hoping to be another success story to emerge from a dusty oval on a remote WA town.

Johnson, who will make his SANFL debut with Sturt this Saturday, hails from the Kimberley town of Halls Creek, with a population of about 1500.

The 22-year-old followed the same path to the SANFL as his brother and Adelaide Crow Shane McAdam from Adelaide Footy League division two side Scotch Old Collegians.

The speedy forward, also a cousin of Gold Coast Suns recruit Jy Farrar, was signed as a ‘top-up player’ for the Crows’ SANFL side in 2019 although he never made his debut.

But with Adelaide not taking part in the 2020 SANFL season due to AFL COVID-19 return-to-play stipulations, the Double Blues snapped him up.

Sturt recruit Ash Johnson is set to make his SANFL debut a day before his brother plays his first AFL game with the Crows. Picture: Dean Martin

Now Johnson will make his league debut in front of 5000 fans — a day before McAdam plays his first AFL game for the Crows.

“I came down (to Adelaide) just following Shane and Jy’s footsteps,” Johnson said.

“I haven’t played in front of heaps of fans before, I reckon the most I’ve played in front of would’ve been 500, so that’s going to be a big thing.

“Debuting means a lot and to look back from where I’ve come from.”

Johnson said growing up in Halls Creek playing alongside McAdam, Farrar and Carlton star Sam Petrevski-Seton helped him develop.

“Jy’s mum is me and Shane’s mum’s sibling so we grew up together.

“We saw each other every day of the week growing up.

Ex-Scotch Old Collegians footballer and new Sturt recruit Ash Johnson (L) with cousin and Gold Coast Sun recruit Jy Farrar (R) and brother, Adelaide Crow Shane McAdam. Picture: Scotch Old Collegians Football Club.

“Playing footy back home was competitive — everyone wanted to be better than the other.

“We’d walk around from one side of the town to the other with a footy in our hands and kicking goals with every post we saw.

“It is just (playing on) instincts back home and everyone runs wild but there is a lot of talent.

“There is a lot of structure work here (in Adelaide) so I had to learn all that coming through.”

Johnson has, however, had to overcome a severe injury after breaking his arm while playing in the division three Adelaide Footy League flag decider for Scotch in 2018.

But he said seeing McAdam and Farrar, who was taken by the Suns with pick 60 in the 2019 national draft, find AFL homes made him hungry to do the same.

“I just want to keep doing my thing, show them what I’ve got and I think with more hard work I can get there, too.”

Sturt opens the 2020 SANFL season against Central District at Adelaide Oval on Saturday at 11.50am.