Andrew Johns discusses nerves ahead of grand final

Newcastle legend Andrew Johns was given the option of skipping commentary duties on Sunday night so he could enjoy the club’s first grand final in 25 years.

“Nine gave me the option, but Cam Smith will be near me, and I told him if I need to go and have a breakdown, he’ll be there,” Johns said in the hours before Sunday’s grand final.

“It’s my job, and I want to do my job. But I am nervous. I don’t think I’ve been this nervous since I made my debut as a player. I think it’s because I’ve got no control [over the result].”

Despite leading Newcastle to both their premierships in 1997 and 2001, Johns now calls Bronte, a beachside suburb in Sydney Roosters’ heartland, home.

When Johns left for Accor Stadium on Sunday morning, he was ambushed by a handful of Roosters’ supporters, who blocked the road and gave the eighth Immortal a friendly serve.

The comical incident happened outside the home of Johns’ good mate, Rob Bruns, who runs the Bronte Boardriders and erected the banner out the front of his home which read, ‘Get Back To Newy Joey You Blow-In’.

“My son Louis must have told them when I was leaving; they blocked the road and started shaking my car,” Johns said.

“I was like, ‘can you leave me alone’. It was all fun and games. Louis is a Knights fan, but he’s in the Roosters system – he’s in the SG Ball this year. But he’s not torn [when it comes to who he follows]. He never will be.”

David Fifita was left shaken during the Prime Minister’s XIII trip to Papua New Guinea when his phone was stolen by a fan.

Team management did their best to track Fifita’s phone via GPS, while local police were called in to find the device.

The South Sydney back-rower only last month revealed how he still listened to voice messages and watched videos of his late father, who died just over 12 months ago. He was understandably upset during the frantic search.

Authorities eventually found Fifita’s phone, and none of his photos or videos had been wiped. Fifita and Ezra Mam were easily the biggest crowd favourites among the Australian team.

The PM’s XIII team won 60-10 against the Kumuls, a team made up of mostly local talent.

One of the big talking points was the lacklustre crowd. The official attendance was less than 10,000 fans, which is not expected to improve for the Kumuls’ games in this year’s World Cup. The cost-of-living crisis is also very real in PNG.

There was a comical moment on the trip home late Saturday with at least one PM’s XIII player playfully heckling Chiefs general manager of football Michael Chammas about tabling him a tax-free deal. Chammas, according to sources with knowledge of the situation not authorised to speak publicly, struggled to hear the player because he was seated at the front of the plane.

Dylan Edwards will be one big name missing when Kevin Walters names his Kangaroos’ World Cup team on Monday.

While it has already been reported that Edwards required surgery for a PCL injury he suffered in the first half against Newcastle last Sunday, what is not as well known is that the fullback will also use the off-season to undergo a shoulder reconstruction.

Edwards aggravated a shoulder saving a try against the Broncos late in the season, which forced him to miss a month – and also cost him points in the Dally M race, where he finished third behind teammate Nathan Cleary.

Roosters players, including Mark Nawaqanitawase, bringing sand from Bondi Beach to sprinkle in the corners of the Accor Stadium playing surface before Saturday’s captain’s run. Stadium management confirmed this really happened.

Aussie sprint sensation Lachie Kennedy, who ran 100m in 9.85 seconds to win silver at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games this year, helping promote Athletics Australia’s new seven-year partnership with Nine, the owners of this masthead, which will run through to the end of 2033. Kennedy loves the North Queensland Cowboys.

Nelson Asofa-Solomona joined the retiring players’ parade at Accor Stadium and strolled right past Paul Gallen, the Cronulla champion he will fight at the end of the year. Broncos captain Adam Reynolds and Daniel Saifiti, the brother of Knights’ prop Jacob Saifiti, along with Konrad Hurrell, the new Tongan media manager for the World Cup, were also among the 18 players to call it a day.

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