Andrew Johns feud with brother Matthew takes massive turn

The sad falling out between NRL icons Andrew Johns and Matthew Johns has taken a dramatic turn with a media mogul stepping in.

Matthew Johns and Andrew Johns.

Worlds are colliding with AFL media mogul Craig Hutchison stepping in to attempt to broker a peace between NRL icons Andrew Johns and Matthew Johns.

The pair have reportedly not spoken for four weeks after the eighth immortal’s stunning blow up during the pair’s radio show squabble.

Popular Fox League cult hero Matthew confirmed earlier this month his brother was “off me” when he returned for their weekly SEN Morning Glory show while Andrew was a nowhere to be seen or heard.

The Daily Telegraph has now revealed the situation has taken a dramatic turn with Hutchison — former host of The Footy Show — attempting to persuade Andrew Johns into coming back to the show.

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Hutchison, who is the major shareholder and chief executive of the SEN radio network’s parent company, is reported to have been given a cold shoulder when trying to call Johns.

The report details Johns has informed the show he has essentially stood himself down through to the end of the 2023 State of Origin series.

It is the state-against-state rivalry that triggered the original beef when Andrew took offence to his brothers comments which suggested Queensland had the upper hand heading into the series opener in Adelaide.

Hutchison, who remains a Channel 9 personality as host of Footy Classified, told News Corp: “We love Joey and we love Matt. They’ve been a fantastic part of SEN 1170 on Friday mornings.

Rebecca Maddern and Craig Hutchison hosting The Footy Show.

“We respect Joey’s wishes to concentrate on Origin at the moment. We understand he’s got a fair bit on his plate. And I probably underestimated how worked up he is.

“We look forward to sitting down with him after Origin and welcoming him back with open arms.

“I’ll get them both together for a bite to eat and go from there.”

It was Matty Johns who earlier this month showed the animosity between the brothers is very real.

When Matty introduced Andrew at the top of their show there was silence, before Matty joked: “Houston, we have a problem”.

“It’s official, Andrew Johns, my brother, is completely off me,” Matty said.

“There were rumours he may not have come in. I thought the last three weeks of not returning phone calls, I thought it was laziness. Obviously not.

“I will say this, and I’ll defend my brother here, this morning him not coming here has nothing to do with State of Origin. I thought his comments after the game were very strong and up front and honest.

Matthew Johns and Andrew Johns.

“The bottom line is he’s off me. It’s nothing new for me and Joey. We were forced to share a bedroom for 19 years. Every six months we have a blue like this, and it gives us a break from reach other.”

An SEN spokesperson said: “No doubt our audience were looking forward to Andrew and Matty catching up and clearing the air. We look forward to that taking place over the coming weeks on SEN 1170am.”

Matty Johns said the pair previously had a feud where they did not speak to each other for two years before mending their relationship.

The pair clashed on radio after Matty spoke with glowing praise for Queensland coach Billy Slater — something that incensed Joey.

Joey Johns still can't believe NSW lost the series opener Photo: Channel 9

Andrew Johns was still struggling to deal with the Blues’ defeat in the State of Origin series opener in Adelaide hours after the full time siren on Wednesday night.

And he clearly didn’t feel up to facing another discussion about it on Friday.

It emerged last week that Matthew was deliberately poking the bear to get a reaction from Joey — but that doesn’t mean the immortal’s emotional outburst wasn’t real.

In the days following the segment, Matthew Johns revealed he had deliberately tried to bait his brother into giving an emotional response.

Johns said on SEN Breakfast last week his brother managed to get one cheap shot in during the exchange, when he pointed out Matthew’s record in the Origin arena of four losses from four matches.

Matty and Joey Johns clash in a fiery chat about State of Origin... 👀🔥 pic.twitter.com/7A26ucsffE

— SEN 1170 (@1170sen) May 13, 2023

“That’s his one joke. That’s what he goes with every time,” Johns said.

“Well, my counter is that god doesn’t give you everything — have you heard yourself commentate.”

Matthew said after the segment he asked his brother about the hatred he has for Queensland.

“I said to him afterwards, how old are you, eight?”

Matthew said his brother was zoning out of the conversation and was looking through surfing photos on his phone when Webster was asking him a question. That’s when Matthew decided to poke the bear.

“I thought if he’s not paying attention, I’ll have a go here,” he said.

“And then half way through he sort of snapped out of it and then started to bite.”

After watching Queensland win on grit and desperate defending, fans couldn’t help but think that Matty was right all along when he pointed out Queensland’s mental advantage in the state-against-state rivalry.

— You can read the full details of the Johns Brothers’ beef in The Daily Telegraph

Originally published as Andrew Johns feud with brother Matthew takes massive turn