Chris Johns

Queensland-born centre raised in the St George district was a reserve back in the 1985 grand final after playing in the Dragon's successful reserve grade team. After a stint with Castleford in 1986-87 Chris Johns moved to the newly promoted Brisbane Broncos in 1988. The following year he became the first Brisbane-based player to gain selection for NSW in a State of Origin match. Chosen for Australia in 1990, he toured with the Kangaroos and made his Test debut as a reserve against France in the Second Test. In 1991 Johns played in all three Tests against NZ and toured Papua New Guinea at the end of the year. As a reserve for the series against Great Britain in 1992 Johns made a huge difference to the Australian attack when he took the field, scoring a fine try in the Second Test. His great form in Brisbane's grand final-winning season saw him chosen in Australia's World Cup team and victory in that match, followed by the successful World Club Championship, capped a great year. 1993 was not as special; he missed all of the representative matches because of a knee injury but made a recovery to be a try-scorer in Brisbane's second successive grand final win over St George. The next season exposed signs of wear and tear in Johns' playing career. He was chosen as a reserve in NSW's State of Origin series win but after a bout in reserve grade, missed selection for a second Kangaroo Tour. In early 1995, Johns was used as a ‘spokesperson’ by Super League to put forward the players' point of view and it was no surprise to see him go into club administration following his retirement. He was considering a position with News Ltd in 1997 when he was offered the Chief Executive role with the newly formed Melbourne Storm. Johns’ four years at the helm of Melbourne were certainly eventful – the Storm won the premiership in 1999 but after the club severed ties with premiership-winning coach Chris Anderson in 2001, Johns left the club the following year to return to Brisbane.