Andrew Johns likes direction Newcastle Knights are headed in despite record woe looming

ANDREW Johns remembers it as a “terrible time” that strangely turned into one of his most enjoyable seasons.

Andrew Johns in action for the Knights in 2005.

ANDREW Johns remembers it as a “terrible time” that strangely turned into one of his most enjoyable seasons.

The year was 2005 and Johns’ Newcastle side, boasting the likes of the future Immortal and other club greats like Danny Buderus, Matt Gidley and Steve Simpson, lost their opening 13 games to establish the worst losing streak in the club’s history.

A losing streak that is in danger of being emulated today if Nathan Brown’s struggling young side is unable to cause a boilover by knocking over Manly at Brookvale Oval.

Johns’ memory of 2005 is still vivid.

“I played really ordinary early in the season coming back from a knee reconstruction and then I broke my jaw against the Warriors (round 6) and Bedsy and Gids struggled with injuries that year too,” Johns said.

“I know it was a terrible time. Everyone was second guessing one another. But a heap of young blokes got an opportunity because of the injuries and looking back, it ended up being one of my most enjoyable seasons.

“All these young guys — I saw them grow up because they had to and it was just the lessons that were learnt that year that made it so enjoyable.

“We ended up winning eight of our last 11 games but even when we were losing, our fans never lost faith and kept turning up.”

Andrew Johns in action for the Knights in 2005.

Fast-forward 11 years and equalling the unwanted record loams large for Brown’s squad.

A win over a Manly side desperate to stay in the finals race appears a tall order.

With just one win all season, they go into this game without the likes of Jarrod Mullen, Sione Mata’utia, Robbie Rochow, Mitch Barnett and Tyler Randell off the back of a big loss to the Sharks.

The club’s record of just two wins in 17 games at Brookvale hardly exudes confidence either.

But while he concedes it has been a challenging year for his old club, Johns says the direction it is heading in is the right one.

“I like what Nathan Brown is doing and you can draw some parallels between the current team and the squad we had in 2005 with the injuries and the number of young blokes who have got an opportunity,” he said.

The Knights have had a tough season to date.

“He (Brown) seems like he is sorting out the salary cap issues and over the past month, I’ve seen some real fight in them on the field.

“The big thing is the fans are still supporting them.

“The people in Newcastle are really well educated when it comes to their footy.

“They can sense if you are really having a dig and like they did with us in 2005, they are still turning up.

“It will be tough for them at Brookie but you just want to see them having a dig for each other.”

Originally published as Andrew Johns likes direction Newcastle Knights are headed in despite record woe looming