Rugby league in Australia celebrates its 100th anniversary in 2008. The dominant winter football code in Queensland and New South Wales has touched the lives and hearts of millions. The on-field protagonists rank among the pinnacle of our nation’s most courageous and athletic sports people.
Only seven players in the history of the game have been so highly esteemed by supporters and officials to be declared "immortals". Despite only departing the playing field earlier this season after sustaining a serious neck injury, Andrew Johns was expected to be the next man to enter rugby league’s pantheon of knights.
Such an exaltation now appears remote. It is now doubtful Johns will ascend to the level occupied by the greats. This is unfortunate, as his playing talents and his influence on the sport suggest he richly deserves it. The public revelation that he has been a regular user of illicit drugs over the length of his playing career coupled with his confessed mental fragility and borderline alcoholism, complete a descent from icon to the problem child.
Johns is not the first would-be "immortal" revealed to be all-to-human. Geelong's Gary Ablett, and the West Coast Eagles' Ben Cousins are AFL champions who have been similarly exposed by revelations of drug use. Drug use is clearly rife in sport, as in society as a whole. The question of how it should be addressed, and what it does to the game, is a difficult one to answer.
The player affectionately known as "Joey" by adoring players, fans and media is now variously being described as a "cheat" and "druggie". Others have appended the tag that accompanies many a lost soul — 'a tragic figure'. As he is a former captain of the national team, it would not surprise if the insipid and overused term "un-Australian" is also hauled out by his many detractors.
As a lover of rugby league for four decades, I do not wish to defend or prosecute Andrew Johns. I admire his football legacy and I will leave it to other analysts to savage or redeem this fallen hero. But as a father of five, the eldest of whom plays junior rugby league, I do have some thoughts about sporting 'role models'.
Without doubt young people look up to sports stars and attempt to mimic them. Upon hearing the news about Johns, my football playing 10-year-old was full of questions and expressed disappointment that such a leading light in the sport he loves would resort to