Steve Johnson has been labelled a lot of things but I think Western Bulldogs skipper Bob Murphy summed him up best, “if Stevie J was a cocktail he’d be three parts genius, one part rascal."
Since being picked up by the Cats with selection 24 in the famous 2001 ‘Super draft’, Johnson has forged a stunning career boasting 3 premierships, 3 All-Australian honours and a Norm Smith Medal.
But it’s his cheekiness, flair and bravado which makes him one of the last true characters of the game in a world of political correctness.
Jonno oozes X-factor. He may look like a pigeon-toed country footballer from Wangaratta but looks can be deceiving because Stevie is elite.
He’s a big game player and the complete package.
The 32 year-old has the ball-winning ability of a genuine midfielder, the creativity and flair of a half-forward flanker and the evasiveness of a small forward. Stevie can wrestle and take a contested one-hander in the goal square, the odd speccy and kick freakish goals like the great Gary Ablett Senior.
He’s one of the most polarizing players in the AFL. Geelong fans love him. Opposition fans love to hate him.
Stevie J is one of a handful of players in the league who can win a match off his own boot, inspire his teammates with a wonder goal and turn a game in the space of a quarter.
Stevie can frustrate the most die-hard Cats fan, like myself, but I believe it’s not always his fault.
Johnson is a football mastermind; he reads the play like no other and is always 3 steps ahead. The only problem is sometimes his teammates aren’t on the same page.
A no-look handball, blind turn or pulled kicked can sometimes result in a clanger. Not to mention the ‘Stevie J Curve’ set-shot snap that he often misses. And his checkered past with the Match Review Panel isn’t great. But I believe that’s only because he’s been pushed, punched and pinched his whole career by nasty little taggers.
However, with Johnson, the good well and truly outweighs the bad and that’s why we love him.
I’ll never forget the time he was stretchered from the ground with what looked to be a nasty knee injury in the third quarter of the 2011 Preliminary Final against the Eagles.
I remember turning to my dad and saying, “there’s no way Stevie will be able to play in the Grand Final.” But like Lazarus, Jonno emerged from the change rooms walking the boundary line. The crowd erupted with applause. Cats fans hugged in the stands with their fingers crossed he’d be fit to play in the Grand Final.
Racing the clock to recover and take on the Magpies, Johnson spent a week in a hyperbaric chamber to speed up the healing process.
And to the shock of the doctors and the dismay of the Pies, somehow Stevie made a miraculous comeback kicking 4 goals and tearing the Magpies to shreds to earn him his third premiership medallion in five years.
Cats teammate Jimmy Bartel loves Johnson just as much as we do and has vowed to give him a 250th that he won't forget, "it’s going to be huge, he’s a legend of the club, triple premiership player and I think everyone’s enjoyed watching Stevie J play, the Stevie J style,” Bartel said.
So bring on Saturday night’s Stevie J show!
Go Cats!
Sean Sowerby
Channel 7 News Weekend Sports Presenter/Reporter
Proud Geelong FC Member
