Matty Johns: Andrew is a pain in the arse, Cam Smith can play at 40 and hope for the Newcastle Knights

MATTHEW Johns tells Robert Craddock about blues with his brother, how Cameron Smith can play until he’s 40 and why Newcastle have better days ahead.

The Matty Johns Show will launch Fox Sports’ new 24-hour channel Fox League.

Matthew Johns has become one of rugby league’s highest profile media identities and his Matty Johns Show has been chosen to launch Fox Sports’ new 24-hour channel Fox League.

Johns tells Robert Craddock about fighting with his brother, why Cameron Smith can play until he’s 40, how Newcastle is still bleeding after Nathan Tinkler but why there are better days ahead.

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You once called [The Courier Mail] The Hillbilly Herald when we called Paul Gallen a drug cheat. You sounded pretty fired up on air?

I think you’ve read this one the wrong way. I love hillbillies. Credence Clearwater Rivival … they are my favourite band. It was a compliment.

The Late Show with Matty Johns will air every Thursday after the live footy.

So we should be flattered?

Yes. Mate, the banjo is a hugely underestimated instrument. How could I not love hillbillies, I’m from Cessnock.

Over the years there have been a lot of stories written about you and your brother Andrew falling out and making up. How do you really get on?

I had to sleep on the bottom bunk to Andrew for 20 years and the guy is a monumental pain in the arse. The great thing about living about an hour away is that I get to see him very, very occasionally, which is fantastic.

Joey’s great in small doses. But it’s the same when we were kids. When we spend time in each other’s pockets it does not take much time for us to start blueing again. It’s good natured. He thinks I’m boring, I think he is a pain in the arse.

Why is he is pain in the arse?

If you had a younger brother who was clearly a better journalist than you, would you like him?

Matthew Johns describes brother Andrew Johns as “a monumental pain in the arse.”

Who is your tip to be the last man standing of the current Queensland greats?

You know I reckon Cameron Smith can be the first man, if he wanted, to be playing NRL at 40. He is one of the greatest big game players of all time. If not the greatest. Have a look at his record for club, state and country.

Forty years old ... really?

Yes. If I was starting a rugby league club tomorrow the first thing I would do would be to appoint Cameron Smith captain-coach. People would disagree but then I would say “well, why would you want a captain who is smarter than your coach’’.

Smith has the temperament to handle it. When he plays at dummy half it is as if he could eat a ham sandwich and roll a smoke at the same time.

He’s a funny sort of player in that it is not as if he has the Charles Atlas build, has he?

No, but I have never seen a temperament like it. Nothing ruffles his feathers. When I used to work at Melbourne I always used to laugh at how Cam and Cooper Cronk were polar opposites. Cooper is so earnest and thoughtful in everything he did, a typical neurotic halfback, where Smith is so relaxed and lackadaisical.

But that was one of the big successes of the side, the fact that Craig (Bellamy) was so intense and Cameron was so relaxed. They were good for each other.

Melbourne Storm’s Cam Smith can play in to his 40s according to Johns.

The Fox boys are doing a road show around Queensland and the new 24-hour Fox League Channel will be launched in Queensland. Queensland seems to be taking over.

Well I think if you are going to launch a 24-hour rugby league channel anywhere it has to be in Queensland. I am a Newcastle boy and when we were growing up we used to say the Hunter Valley was the heartland of rugby league. But you have to say in 2017 the heartland of rugby league is Queensland. You look at the juniors through to the success of the Origin.

The Knights still seem to be recovering from the Nathan Tinkler ownership disaster. Can you sense the scars are still deep?

Oh, you know they really are. Who would have thought from a business point of view that the Nathan Tinkler we knew in 2012 would be where he is in 2017. At the time when he took over the Knights, he was going from strength to strength. I remember running into Knights fans in Sydney when they signed Wayne Bennett and they said “how many comps are we going to win in a row?’’

That was the feeling but it turned into and absolute nightmare and the club just haemorrhaged.

It has been a rugged time for the club, hasn’t it?

Well during that time the club lost its way and fans did not feel they were part of the club. Nathan was offside with the community but sometimes you have to go through things. They say a little bit of rock bottom is good for everyone.

Nathan Tinkler’s ownership of the Newcastle Knights proved a disaster.

The good thing is I went and watched their juniors in the 16s and 18s and they are really back on track, back to being powerhouse teams. They are actually getting up into the Hunter Valley and recruiting again and getting big strong country kids out of Scone and Muswellbrook.

There is a silver lining but no doubt it was a horrible time.

Do you think Anthony Milford will play State of Origin this year?

I hope not. I have urged Kev Walters not to pick him. What a player. There is a lot of competition for that No. 14 jersey which is all about bringing the next generation through. They did it so well with Cooper Cronk then it was Daly Cherry-Evans, then Michael Morgan. It will be really interesting for Kevin whether he can carry Morgan and Milford on the bench.

It will be a big showdown on Thursday night’s between you show and Fatty Vautin’s Channel Nine Footy Show?

Yes. Without talking it down I will put my hand on my heart and say I had a lot of really good years on The Footy Show and people think I just want to put one over them. I don’t think that at all. I know it is direct competition but I have never gone to Fox and focused back on that. Thursday night was a logical night for us. I hope we go well in the ratings but I have never been obsessed with them because if you are, you second guess what you are doing.

Bryan Fletcher and Nathan Hindmarsh are mainstays on Johns’ show.

Fletch and Hindy have been big drawcards yet they don’t seem classical television types. What do you make of them?

One of the keys to the show is we all get along so well and we play our natural parts on the show. It’s not contrived. I never tell Fletch to be funny or Gorden (Tallis) to make a big statement. Gorden has that ability to hit the big point the right way. Stubborn as a mule. Strong with his views. He’s always been that way.

Originally published as Matty Johns: Andrew is a pain in the arse, Cam Smith can play at 40 and hope for the Newcastle Knights