Andrew Gary Joey Johns (born 19 May 1974) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. He is considered by many to be one of the greatest players of all time. Hailed as the best halfback in the world for many years, he captained the Newcastle Knights in the National Rugby League and participated in the teams only two premiership victories in 1997 and 2001, playing a club record 249 games for the Knights. Johns also represented his country at two World Cups, and on one Kangaroo tour, playing in total 21 Test matches for the national side. He played in 23 State of Origin series matches for the New South Wales Blues (captaining the side to a series win in 2003), and played for the Country Origin side in 1995 and 2003.Johns announced his retirement from rugby league on 10 April 2007 at the age of 32. This followed a long run of injuries, the last of which was a bulging disc in his neck which forced his retirement due to the risk of serious spinal injury from further heavy contact. Andrew Johns is one of only three players to have won the Golden Boot Award more than once and is one of only two players to have won the Dally M Medal for best player in the NRL three times. He finished his career as the highest points scorer in Australian first-grade premiership history with 2,176 points.In 2008, less than a year into his retirement, Johns was named as the Greatest Player of the last 30 years by the publication Rugby League Week, beating the likes of Queensland legend Wally Lewis (voted #2), fellow NSW star Brad Fittler (voted #3) and then current Queensland and Australian captain Darren Lockyer (voted #4). The judges for the poll included league historian David Middleton, former NSW and Test player Mark Geyer and veteran sports journalist Tony Adams. On 28 September 2012, Johns was named as the eighth Immortal of rugby league.
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