Sea Eagles Half-Back and Five-Eighth, and son of the legendary Matty Johns, Cooper Johns, will join Kyle and Jackie O on KISS-FM as on-air talent after announcing he will step away from Rugby League “for a bit”.
The announcement was made on the morning program yesterday morning. “We’re not sure what he does yet but we’ve just secured his services,” Kyle Sandilands said yesterday morning. “The reason why we got Coops is because I thought he’s very, very good. We were paranoid and thought ‘we’ve got to secure this guy’”.
“Nobody really knew what I was doing (here) and I don’t actually know what I’m doing either,” Johns replied.
Johns later announced his split from the sport on Instagram, having decided to switch out the football for a microphone. “Loved my time in the @nrl but after some late nights pondering over a couple of schooners of Malibu and coke no sugar I’ve decided to step away for a bit,” he wrote.
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Johns leant into the self-deprecating humour making a joking reference to his relatively short but nonetheless eventful NRL career. “The memories…so many to pick from… first game… first try…first offseason scandal”.
Johns went out in a blaze of fire launching a scathing attack on Storm head coach, Craig Bellamy within his post. “And finally to all my coaches particularly Craig Bellamy …who refused to select me regardless of mediocre form and numerous bribes, don’t expect a reference when you’re looking for another club to drag through the mud”.
The Johns family may be Rugby League royalty but they are also no stranger to the media world, Johns’ father Matthew and Uncle Andrew have been prolific commentators and media personalities since their retirement from the game back in the early 2000’s.
While it’s uncertain the future of Johns career within the NRL, or if his new gig will involve the sport, it is clear that his love for the game has not died. “Is this the end who knows…one thing I do know is rugby league is the greatest game of all” he said in his post.
Johns played at the professional level for four years across both Melbourne Storm and Manly Sea-Eagles. He played just eight games last year and has been off contract this year with much speculation about the future of his career.
