Steve Johnson cops hilarious sledge from young Adelaide player Jake Kelly at Adelaide Oval
STEVIE J is one of the AFL’s all-time great sledgers. But on Sunday, he was humbled and temporarily dethroned with a classic line from an unlikely source.
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THE AFL’s sledging king has been temporarily dethroned.
GWS veteran Steve Johnson has developed a reputation as one of the AFL’s all-time great sledgers.
But on Sunday, Stevie J was humbled, thanks to a brilliant line from a young Adelaide player.
Crows defender Jake Kelly was the confident culprit during the Crows’ commanding 56-point win over the Giants at the Adelaide Oval.
Kelly is the son of former Collingwood defender and TLA player manager Craig Kelly.
Craig has managed Johnson throughout the latter’s stellar career.
So when Johnson and the young Crow crossed paths on Sunday afternoon — and the veteran Giant began a war of words — Jake was well prepared to fire back.
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Crows skipper Taylor Walker picks up the story.
“Stevie J was into (Kelly),” Walker told Triple M Adelaide this week.
“He said, ‘Stevie, don’t talk to me like that mate — you’ve been paying for my business class tickets to Europe for the past six years’.
An amused Walker said Johnson was taken back by Kelly’s cheek.
“I think Stevie put his head down and walked off. He said, ‘that’s one of the best, young fella’.”
It’s a rare sledging defeat for Johnson, whose famous on-field one-liners have become part of footy folklore.
Arguably his best came against Sun Campbell Brown in 2011, when he asked Brown: “Cash or card?” It referred to how Brown wanted to pay for the front row tickets to the ‘Stevie J Show’.
While at Geelong, Johnson also said to a young GWS player in his first season with the club: “I’ve got more premierships than you’ve played games.”
But on Sunday, the final score was 1-0 in Kelly’s favour.
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Originally published as Steve Johnson cops hilarious sledge from young Adelaide player Jake Kelly at Adelaide Oval
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