If anyone hears how the training run goes, be sure to let us know!
Odds favour Johns calling the shots
By Greg Prichard
April 29, 2006
ANDREW Johns will play for Newcastle against South Sydney at Telstra Stadium tomorrow, as long as he gets through the team's final training session this morning.
If he does play, there will be a cheer from big punters who backed the Knights with the small points handicap start against them when rumours that Johns might recover from injury in time to play in the game spread on Thursday.
Bookmakers soon stopped betting on the game and still had it turned off last night, as they awaited definitive news on the veteran halfback. Johns missed Newcastle's heavy loss to Melbourne last weekend because of an ankle ligament injury and was not named in the team to play against the Rabbitohs because he was rated only a rough chance of being ready in time.
But after his recovery temporarily slowed, as often happens with this type of injury, he improved again midweek and got through a run yesterday without any problem.
"It was the first time Joey had put any real pressure on his ankle since he got hurt and he got through it okay," Knights operations manager Steve Crowe said. "He'll train with the team tomorrow and if he gets through that without any problem it's expected he'll play."
Before he went for the run yesterday, Johns said he was hoping to be fit for the game, but couldn't be sure at that stage.
"I'm 50-50 or 60-40," he said. "I've still got a bit of discomfort when I walk and I'll have to see how I pull up after I run on it. I did a couple of run-throughs on Tuesday, just over 20 or 30 metres, and that wasn't too bad, so I'll have a run with the team tomorrow and see how it goes."
Johns said if he did play he wouldn't be worried about the controversial playing surface at Telstra Stadium, as long as it was cleared by officials as safe to play on after sections were dug up and replaced on Wednesday.
"It's obviously been a bit of a worry, but I've got full confidence in the officials to make a call on something like that," Johns said. "They would shift the game if it was necessary."
Souths chief executive Shane Richardson said yesterday the game would go ahead at the ground as scheduled. "We're happy with the work that has been done on the ground this week and Newcastle are as well," he said.
Newcastle coach Michael Hagan said that although he had been prepared to go without Johns - with youngster Jarrod Mullen at halfback instead - he had never ruled out the possibility of Johns coming good in time to play.
"The idea was that if Joey felt OK by Friday or Saturday and wanted to play, we would obviously bring him in," Hagan said. "He has done a bit of running this morning and pulled up not too bad, so we'll make a decision on him after training tomorrow morning."
Whether Johns plays for the Knights is the biggest factor in rugby league when it comes to how bookmakers assess match odds.
Newcastle's record without the greatest player in the world is poor, as was shown again when they were thrashed 52-6 by the Storm last Saturday night.
After he wasn't named in the team to play Souths, bookmakers gave the Rabbitohs only 4.5 points start despite the fact they haven't won a game this season.
Punters who presumably heard he might play invested $40,000 on the Knights to win at the handicap, to win by a margin of 13-plus and for the game to produce a points total of more than 49.5 with TAB Sportsbet, and $30,000 with Sportsbook.com.au at the handicap.
Sportsbook.com.au spokesman Larry Hawke said yesterday that a decision on whether to resume betting on the game would be made after Johns trained today.
"If he trains and they declare him fit to play, we will probably start betting on it again," Hawke said. "The handicap start would probably go out to 11.5 or 12.5 under those circumstances."
TAB Sportsbet will also wait to see what happens with Johns.
"The idea was that if Joey felt OK by Friday or Saturday and wanted to play, we would obviously bring him in," Hagan said. "He has done a bit of running this morning and pulled up not too bad, so we'll make a decision on him after training tomorrow morning."
Whether Johns plays for the Knights is the biggest factor in rugby league when it comes to how bookmakers assess match odds.
Newcastle's record without the greatest player in the world is poor, as was shown again when they were thrashed 52-6 by the Storm last Saturday night.
After he wasn't named in the team to play Souths, bookmakers gave the Rabbitohs only 4.5 points start despite the fact they haven't won a game this season.
Punters who presumably heard he might play invested $40,000 on the Knights to win at the handicap, to win by a margin of 13-plus and for the game to produce a points total of more than 49.5 with TAB Sportsbet, and $30,000 with Sportsbook.com.au at the handicap.
Sportsbook.com.au spokesman Larry Hawke said yesterday that a decision on whether to resume betting on the game would be made after Johns trained today.
"If he trains and they declare him fit to play, we will probably start betting on it again," Hawke said. "The handicap start would probably go out to 11.5 or 12.5 under those circumstances."
TAB Sportsbet will also wait to see what happens with Johns.
From: http://www.smh.com.au/news/league/odds-favour-johns-calling-the-shots/2006/04/28/1146198351925.html
Johns set to start
By Adrian Proszenko
April 28, 2006
NEWCASTLE captain Andrew Johns is set to make his NRL return against South Sydney on Sunday, with Knights surgical specialist Neil Halpin declaring: "More likely than not, I think he'll play".
Betting markets for a Knights game have been suspended for the third time this season following speculation that Johns will be a late inclusion for the Telstra Stadium clash against the Rabbitohs.
Johns, 31, missed last weekend's heavy loss to Melbourne after he sustained an ankle injury against North Queensland in round six.
Halpin said after inspecting Johns today that the halfback had a good chance of playing against Souths.
"His ankle looked a lot better this morning, it wasn't as sore and the swelling had gone down," Halpin said.
"He was going to train on it today and see how it felt.
"He may want to leave it overnight and see how it pulls up.
"Andrew is one of the great players of all time, he's been around for a long time, and knows his body and knows if he's OK.
"More likely than not, I think he'll play."
The Knights issued a press release today stating that Johns would train with the team tomorrow morning, with a final decision based on how well he pulled up.
The Knights named Jarrod Mullen at halfback earlier this week, although it was understood that Johns wanted game time before making his representative swansong in the Anzac Test match against New Zealand at Suncorp Stadium next Friday.
Halpin denied Johns' recovery was ahead of schedule.
"He has recovered pretty well as expected," he said.
"I think people have changed their expectations.
"I didn't think his ankle injury was all that bad. There were people around trying to make it out as some catastrophic thing.
"Andrew himself didn't think it was too serious. In fact, he didn't even want to have any scans on it and he hasn't had any.
"He just said: Look, I've got a sprained ankle, I don't want to take it any further.
"All I can say is there is no structural damage, but whether he feels it's healed up to his standards is for him to decide."
Adding intrigue to a possible Johns comeback is the state of the controversial Telstra Stadium surface, where 1000 square metres of turf has been relaid after Manly described the surface as "dangerous" and "unacceptable" after its victory over the Bulldogs on Sunday.
However, in a boost to the chances of Johns playing, the AFL today said there were no safety issues with the surface for the Sydney-Geelong match on Saturday night.
From: http://foxsports.news.com.au/story/0,8659,18959698-23214,00.html
