Andrew Johns would thrive on pressure of NSW Blues coaching gig, says Matthew Johns
MATTHEW Johns has continued his push to try and convince his brother Andrew to take over as Blues coach from Laurie Daley: “I know he’d do well.”
MATTHEW Johns has continued his push to try and convince his brother Andrew to take over from Laurie Daley as NSW’s State of Origin coach, declaring: “I know he’d do well. I don’t think it. I know he’d do well”.
A day after his Daily Telegraph column declaring his brother was up to the Origin coaching task, Matthew also spoke about why rugby league’s eighth Immortal is now ready to take on one of the highest pressure jobs in Australian sport.
While Johns’ party-boy past has many thinking it could be a dangerous move, Matthew was adamant at the age of 43 Andrew was equipped for the next great challenge in his life.
“Yes. Yes. Yes. He is,” Matthew said.
“Joey said, ‘I don’t know if I need the pressure in my life.’ Well, I would say, ‘Joey, you do need the pressure in your life. When you have that sort of pressure around, in the past it is proven that you succeed and it brings out the best in you’.
“Like playing in the 1997 grand final when they said, ‘you could die when you played with a punctured lung’. Coming back from a knee reconstruction in 2005 (when Andrew produced one of the greatest Origin performances to lead NSW to victory).
“All those things. He is the sort of bloke who just thrives on pressure.
“I know he could do it and I know he is up to it because I know the bloke and I know what makes him tick.
“The moment he believes in something and he is passionate about it, mate, he just throws every single ounce of his energy into it. That is why I know he’d do well. I don’t think it. I know he’d do well in it.”
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Matthew hasn’t heard from anyone at the NSWRL following his column but a Daily Telegraph online poll was overwhelming in its support.
Of the 1400-plus votes, a phenomenal 72 per cent chose Andrew Johns to be the next Blues coach while Brad Fittler was next with 10 per cent, ahead of Daley with 8 per cent support.
Andrew could not be contacted on Friday because he was away fishing in North Queensland.
Asked if his younger brother’s reputation for enjoying a good time would be an issue, Matthew added: “Not when he is on a mission. Not when he has something that he absolutely believes in.
“You are talking about a totally different bloke.
“Warren Ryan used to call him LPG, low percentage goal kicker, because when he used to kick it was at about 73 per cent. But I will tell you something, I remember one day we were playing a semi-final and we needed him to kick a goal to level it up.
“One of the boys said to me, ‘God, I hope he kicks it’. And I said, ‘Mate, don’t even look around. He is going to kick it’.
“I know pressure is what brings out the best in him. He has a very good way of articulating with players. He has a very, very good concept of taking what he saw in the game and then being able to coach it.
“There is a morbid side of me which would love to see it drive him mad, which it would. But I’m serious about this. He would do really well. I think he would simplify the concept of Origin.
“I remember my great Irish mate Brian Carney said to me when he had a year playing with Joey and he was like, ‘Gee, he likes a good time. But bloody hell, when he is into something and he is really focused, I have never seen anything like it. He is OCD’.
“And that is what you want.”
Originally published as Andrew Johns would thrive on pressure of NSW Blues coaching gig, says Matthew Johns