Johns factor is laid bare
By Greg Prichard
April 3, 2006
NEWCASTLE 22 NZ WARRIORS 26
Blood and tears … A wounded Adam Woolnough looks on as Sione Faumuina attempts to engineer another attack for the Warriors. Photo: Darren Pateman.
IT won't matter in the long run this season unless Andrew Johns is struck down for an extended period, but yesterday's game against New Zealand Warriors provided yet another stark reminder of the problems Newcastle have when he is not on the field.
Knights coach Michael Hagan understandably hates the question and so, too, do his players, because the suggestion from the outside that the Knights can't win without Joey is obviously personal with them.
The Knights have won without Johns before, of course, but there is no argument that their winning percentage without him drops dramatically.
Hagan conceded as much after the 26-22 defeat minus the injured Johns at EnergyAustralia Stadium when he said: "You can't defend it on the back of that. We had an opportunity today and we knew that was on the cards [Newcastle's record without Johns being raised if they lost]. We didn't take the opportunity, so you have to cop it when it comes, then, don't you."
But, at the same time, Hagan pointed out that his team had made a strong start to the game, establishing a 10-0 lead, and that even in the absence of their captain they had plenty of star players on the field. Where the Knights had let themselves down, he said, was in their poor ball control after that.
"Too many errors down our own end," Hagan maintained. Knights hooker and captain for the day, Danny Buderus, agreed about the effect of turnovers on his team, saying: "They [the Warriors] licked their lips. We played with our heads cut off in the last 20 minutes."
Buderus reckoned the Knights had made so many mistakes they could still have lost even if superstar halfback Johns had been out there, instead of having been ruled out because of a neck problem.
"If Joey had played and we dropped that much ball, we still might have found ourselves in that situation," Buderus said. "He can't catch the ball and play the ball for everyone."
The thing is, Johns is so influential when he is on the field that when he isn't out there, it must come as an enormous shock to the team system, no matter how many other good players are in the side. It was the same with Brad Fittler and Sydney Roosters, and it is the same with Darren Lockyer and Brisbane and Craig Gower and Penrith.
And you can't help but think that, had Johns been out there, some of the disarray that was evident at times among the Knights would not have been on show because he would have taken charge in the fashion that only he can.
After centre Matt Gidley had scored a try in the 61st minute which his brother, Kurt, converted to bring the Knights back to 26-22 down, the last 19 minutes of the game went scoreless. It is hard to believe that, during that time, Johns would not have been able to force the issue.
It is also obviously unlikely that clearing kicks from Johns would have been charged down three times in the first 20 minutes by Warriors prop and captain Steve Price, as happened to Kurt Gidley.
Price's desperation was indicative of the general attitude of the Warriors, who were penalised four competition points before the season began for cheating the salary cap.
They have to put it all on the line every week just to try to catch up and after yesterday's win they are at least back in black - if you can call zero points black.
Warriors coach Ivan Cleary said he and his players had, for the time being, made the sensible decision not to worry about the competition table and just concentrate on each game as it comes. He also said they had tried not to give the fact Johns wasn't playing too much thought.
Johns had been in doubt since Thursday. He woke yesterday morning feeling well enough to play and told the club so, but shortly after 8am he was forced to pull the pin after his neck stiffened up again.
It was a pain in the neck for the game's greatest player that resulted in a pain in the you-know-what for Knights fans.
MATCH FOCUS
STAR MAN
He didn't actually play at EnergyAustralia Stadium , but all the post-match focus was on him because of Newcastle's record without him. His name? Andrew Johns.
CHAMPAGNE RUGBY LEAGUE
Winger Manu Vatuvei scored a runaway try down the right wing 24 seconds from half-time, putting the Warriors in front for good.
From: http://www.smh.com.au/news/league/johns-factor-is-laid-bare/2006/04/02/1143916409789.html?page=2
Agatha would approve of suspense until last page
By Roy Masters
April 3, 2006
ANALYSIS
Woe … Knights winger Brian Carney drops the ball in the last minute. Photo: Glen McCurtayne.
A GOOD rugby league season is an intriguing mystery novel: you don't know who dunnit until the final chapter.
Chapter four - the weekend round - was in itself a mystery, with most of the games ending as cliffhangers.
Six of the seven matches followed the same plot - a team made a second-half comeback, leaving the outcome in doubt until the last page.
The Storm were down 30-4 with 15 minutes left. While Wests Tigers couldn't lose in the final minute, the team from Melbourne must have given Tim Sheens, in his 500th game as coach, a scare at the 30-28 result.
A "Joey Johns-less" Newcastle trailed the Warriors 26-16 but then scored the next eight points, for a 26-22 scoreline, which survived the final thrilling 18 minutes.
Only St George Illawarra didn't follow the script, allowing the Brisbane Broncos an early try before taking control for a 26-12 victory.
There is only one constant in the NRL: a team can't protect a lead any more.
The Raiders won 21-20 in overtime after falling behind against the Panthers; the Rabbitohs retrieved a horrific half-time scoreline to lose 24-22 to the Sharks.
The Sea Eagles, down 20-12 at the break against the Roosters, surged back to consolidate a 30-22 victory near full-time, and then there was Friday night's inspiring rally by the Cowboys and dramatic, if unsuccessful, counterattack by the Eels.
Of all the clues offered on the possible grand finalists, two stand out: ability to scramble in defence and back up line breaks.
The first statistic stops tries; the second scores them. The past three premiers have been No.1 on both indices.
A team can be top of the ladder all season and dominate every other statistic, but if it doesn't lead the league going into the grand final in scrambling and back-up, it won't win.
Before the penultimate game last year, St George Illawarra and Parramatta shared top honours on every statistic except these two.
Wests Tigers may have struggled for much of the season but they went into the preliminary final against the Dragons No.1 in both scrambles and support plays. For this reason, it's a questionable exercise declaring the premiers based on four rounds. It takes time to earn the top rankings in marshalling that desperation to defend, while instilling that willingness to back up.
Both of these factors reflect a team ethic, a shared mentality. It's impossible to achieve belief in teammate and coach overnight.
Still, if NRL stats are pressed to reveal the team currently No.1 as scramblers and turning line breaks into tries, it is the Cowboys, although Wests Tigers showed yesterday at Leichhardt Oval their support play is coming back.
If the 2006 season continues as an Agatha Christie novel, its central character, Andrew "Joey" Johns, is a mystery unto himself, the opposition, bookmakers and even fellow luncheon guests.
Those who sat with him on Friday in Newcastle at a sponsor's lunch were amazed he'd withdrawn from the Warriors match, remarking that he looked healthier than the organic section of the supermarket. But coach Michael Hagan said of Johns's neck injury: "He was a bit stiff on that day. A muscular spasm."
When pressed on how glowingly the athletic Johns appeared, Hagan said: "Looks are deceiving."
While Charles ****ens didn't write mysteries, he had Joey in mind when he wrote in 1859: "A wonderful fact to reflect upon is that every human creature is constituted to be that profound secret and mystery to every other one."
Put Joey in an overcoat and dark glasses and he's the man who looks straight ahead as everyone else follows the flight of the ball in the thrilling tennis match in Hitchcock's Strangers on a Train.
Search for clues how this season will go and you'll find Joey looking the other way.
The weekend round did reveal some Inspector Clouseau bumbling by players but, on the whole, they are trying very hard. Some are busting their arse.
One forward pushed very hard in a scrum but stood around immediately afterwards, seemingly frozen.
A furious coach sent a message to the trainer to jolt the forward from his inactivity. Back came the message to the coach: "He's poo'd his pants."
No names will be revealed. In this Agatha Christie season, let's just call it Mystery No.2.
From: http://www.smh.com.au/news/league/a...until-last-page/2006/04/02/1143916409798.html