POST GAME [2022 State of Origin - Game 3] QLD vs NSW

[Mustafur]

I dont know how people can defend Johns drug taking. As much as it wasnt directly performance enhancing in a physical sense, he's openly admitted he took them to help him cope with the pressure. And what separates the good players from the great ones is the ability to perform under pressure. Plenty of talented footballers have never achieved what they could have if they could have handled the pressure, so i think its a more than fair argument to say Joey might easily have never reached the heights he did without the drugs.

After speaking to somebody i know who has worked with him in a football setting, he sounds like he is a decent bloke. Helps anyone out with their games and nothing was ever too much trouble for him. Problem is, like anyone who has been caught, or admitted to taking drugs while playing, there is always going to be a question mark over if they would have been the same player without them.

The thing about Johns that never sat well with me was how quick they rushed him into becoming an Immortal, even after the admission of drug taking, meanwhile players like Locky are still waiting 11 years after they retired.

and NSW wonders why Queenslanders hate their guts.

 

[theshed]

The thing about Johns that never sat well with me was how quick they rushed him into becoming an Immortal, even after the admission of drug taking, meanwhile players like Locky are still waiting 11 years after they retired.

and NSW wonders why Queenslanders hate their guts.

They rushed Johns in so enough time would pass to enable Locky entry without it feeling like they were letting too many people in too close together

 

[ningnangnong]

Every time I hear Billy Slater speak, I am more and more impressed.

I think I am developing a crush on the little fella.

 

[Huge]

I dont know how people can defend Johns drug taking. As much as it wasnt directly performance enhancing in a physical sense, he's openly admitted he took them to help him cope with the pressure. And what separates the good players from the great ones is the ability to perform under pressure. Plenty of talented footballers have never achieved what they could have if they could have handled the pressure, so i think its a more than fair argument to say Joey might easily have never reached the heights he did without the drugs.

After speaking to somebody i know who has worked with him in a football setting, he sounds like he is a decent bloke. Helps anyone out with their games and nothing was ever too much trouble for him. Problem is, like anyone who has been caught, or admitted to taking drugs while playing, there is always going to be a question mark over if they would have been the same player without them.

I don't know either. I mean, I don't know anyone who is defending his drug taking. I think people should mind their own fucking business and concern themselves with how they themselves deal with their own problems. If John's dealt with things his way and his drug use wasn't performance enhancing then, my opinion although irrelevant is, I don't care, not my business.

He could have done the same with alcohol abuse alone and no one would bat an eyelid. So, he chose something else. So what. Anyway, always thought he was a snarky tosser.

 

[Midean]

I don't know either. I mean, I don't know anyone who is defending his drug taking. I think people should mind their own fucking business and concern themselves with how they themselves deal with their own problems. If John's dealt with things his way and his drug use wasn't performance enhancing then, my opinion although irrelevant is, I don't care, not my business.

He could have done the same with alcohol abuse alone and no one would bat an eyelid. So, he chose something else. So what. Anyway, always thought he was a snarky tosser.

Same boat.

Booze is a great example of a legal coping mechanism, and is, imo, no different to taking other drugs that just happen to be illegal because "reasons".

As long as he isn't bashing women, taking steroids or other performance enhancers, i could care less what he does outside the game to blow off steam.

I dont really like Joey either, but there is no doubt he has an excellent footy brain.

 

[Wolfie]

I don't know either. I mean, I don't know anyone who is defending his drug taking. I think people should mind their own fucking business and concern themselves with how they themselves deal with their own problems. If John's dealt with things his way and his drug use wasn't performance enhancing then, my opinion although irrelevant is, I don't care, not my business.

He could have done the same with alcohol abuse alone and no one would bat an eyelid. So, he chose something else. So what. Anyway, always thought he was a snarky tosser.

He could have done it with alcohol, but I doubt it would have worked in the same way.

 

[theshed]

I dont know how people can defend Johns drug taking. As much as it wasnt directly performance enhancing in a physical sense, he's openly admitted he took them to help him cope with the pressure. And what separates the good players from the great ones is the ability to perform under pressure. Plenty of talented footballers have never achieved what they could have if they could have handled the pressure, so i think its a more than fair argument to say Joey might easily have never reached the heights he did without the drugs.

After speaking to somebody i know who has worked with him in a football setting, he sounds like he is a decent bloke. Helps anyone out with their games and nothing was ever too much trouble for him. Problem is, like anyone who has been caught, or admitted to taking drugs while playing, there is always going to be a question mark over if they would have been the same player without them.

let’s be honest for a moment about Johns being one of the few players that got publicly shamed for recreational drug use and not confuse that with Johns being one of the few who took recreational drugs.

There’s the ones we know about like Sailor, Finch etc, there’s plenty of stories from guys who worked at pubs and bars during that era, Tallis even called the NRL crying about the amount of drug use in the Australian team during the 2000 World Cup. I’ve personally seen a player from that team looking extremely under the influence about a decade ago in a nightclub bathroom.

There was also the QLD origin prescription drug abuse scandal of the late 00’s. One of our very own favourites was coincidentally with Johns and Sailor the nights that lead to them being caught and he was in both on that Australian tour and in that QLD team.

Plenty of reasons to not like Johns but he’s the lance Armstrong of rugby league and party drugs - if you exclude every player that uses recreational drugs from your hall of fame you’ll have a lot of crossed out names.

 

[Wolfie]

let’s be honest for a moment about Johns being one of the few players that got publicly shamed for recreational drug use and not confuse that with Johns being one of the few who took recreational drugs.

There’s the ones we know about like Sailor, Finch etc, there’s plenty of stories from guys who worked at pubs and bars during that era, Tallis even called the NRL crying about the amount of drug use in the Australian team during the 2000 World Cup. I’ve personally seen a player from that team looking extremely under the influence about a decade ago in a nightclub bathroom.

There was also the QLD origin prescription drug abuse scandal of the late 00’s. One of our very own favourites was coincidentally with Johns and Sailor the nights that lead to them being caught and he was in both on that Australian tour and in that QLD team.

Plenty of reasons to not like Johns but he’s the lance Armstrong of rugby league and party drugs - if you exclude every player that uses recreational drugs from your hall of fame you’ll have a lot of crossed out names.

I'm pretty certain as you say plenty of players indulged. The only difference for me with somebody who gets caught out is it tarnishes them. When you admit you needed to take an illegal drug to help you cope it becomes a little bit more than just taking a drug because you like what it does to you. Not going to get into the whole recreational drug thing because it's been done to death elsewhere, but again as you say, it's been going on for years and still is more than likely.

 

[Organix]

NRL360 tonight is glorius !!

Old men yell at clouds. It is quite the salty delight

 

[BroncosFever]

Yeah look, I won't advise kids to go out and start taking recreational drugs as a means to counter bipolar disorder but clearly Andrew Johns did and it obviously helped him a lot.

So I think people need to be a little more compassionate before they start taking the high ground, it's not something that people know a lot about because there's a stigma involved. It obviously helped him through a difficult time.

 

[Sproj]

let’s be honest for a moment about Johns being one of the few players that got publicly shamed for recreational drug use and not confuse that with Johns being one of the few who took recreational drugs.

There’s the ones we know about like Sailor, Finch etc, there’s plenty of stories from guys who worked at pubs and bars during that era, Tallis even called the NRL crying about the amount of drug use in the Australian team during the 2000 World Cup. I’ve personally seen a player from that team looking extremely under the influence about a decade ago in a nightclub bathroom.

There was also the QLD origin prescription drug abuse scandal of the late 00’s. One of our very own favourites was coincidentally with Johns and Sailor the nights that lead to them being caught and he was in both on that Australian tour and in that QLD team.

Plenty of reasons to not like Johns but he’s the lance Armstrong of rugby league and party drugs - if you exclude every player that uses recreational drugs from your hall of fame you’ll have a lot of crossed out names.

Are you saying Lance Armstrong was only using party drugs? I’m sorry I don’t get the analogy. Armstrong was a pathological liar who systematically and methodically used a heck of a lot more than recreational drugs.

 

[theshed]

Are you saying Lance Armstrong was only using party drugs? I’m sorry I don’t get the analogy. Armstrong was a pathological liar who systematically and methodically used a heck of a lot more than recreational drugs.

Of Rugby league AND party drugs.

As in, if you look at everyone who used performance enhancing drugs in Tour de France to find the honest winner you would have to go down the list to the guy who came like 68th place in the race. If you reject every rugby league player who has done recreational drugs from winning accolades than congrats to our next immortal Rhys Kennedy!

 

[Fozz]

I never had a problem with the drug use. It was more about the hypocrisy where some players are just burnt at the stake while he was given a soft touch interview. And the fact that Newcastle obviously turned a blind eye given how he described his behaviour.

Plus it's fun to mock a blues legend.

 

[Jedhead]

I had a right good belly laugh and buckets of schadenfreude while reading Benny Elias' 'pep' talk to the beaten blues. I'm paraphrasing here "remember this feeling lads. Keep it in mind and it starts today. You carry this hurt over until next year and then you use it. We will humiliate them by winning the next series 3-0"

He's talking to a cockroach team FFS! By next year the coach will be gone and more than half the team will be dropped. It means a few poor saps are going to be left with all these memories of hurt come next year and have no outlet for it .

I'm sure Billy has cut out that line about their intentions to humiliate us 3 zip too.

They just never learn do they?

 

[johnyE]

Because they cant question it. He never gave them the opportunity to. Doesnt matter Cleary is young, age doesnt stop you chasing a lost cause. I dont get what his age has anything to do with him stopping chasing Hunt. Its little things like doing that that will separate him from JT.

Spot on Wolfie, Jonathon Thurston also must have been one of the talented , fittest , and committed players ever. I mean the bloke was always on for the full 80 mins, all over the park everywhere all the fucking time . His control of the game of Rugby League should be in the hand book for halfbacks. His tackling was not 100% though , but he more than made up for it his defense plays. His kicking in play was excellent and his conversions ..well. He just about took that bastard Cowgirls team to the GF single handedly if not with just his ability but his football brain. What a shame he never played for us.

 

[GCBRONCO]

 

[Big Del]

Freddy deserved to lose this series. For bad team lists
- not picking proven NSWmen (e.g. Addo Carr, Jurbo game 1, Wighton game 3)
- pandering to the Panther squad (dropping RCG after a solid performance)
- picking too many Panthers (Crighton is not NSW best centre, Luai isn't the best 6)
- weird Talakai selection

Then whining and bitching about everything after game 1 (no accountability, not my fault mentality)

Lastly, and maybe most importantly, allowing so many selection dramas. If I had Tupou umm-ing and ahh-ing I'd have a proper sit down with him, assess where his head is at, and if he isn't commited - go to someone else. As QLD continually shows, Origin isn't about who the best player is. It's about who wants it more. Starry team beats a team of stars

Talakai and Crighton were Freddies picks .
They folded under pressure . Crighton missed Val for a try then tried the glory offload that led to 6 again and a try .
Talakai -KP ran around for a try . Talakai dropped the ball in the tackle and let a speculator pass from Luai go over the sideline .

Game , set and match right there .

 

[Big Del]

I dont know how people can defend Johns drug taking. As much as it wasnt directly performance enhancing in a physical sense, he's openly admitted he took them to help him cope with the pressure. And what separates the good players from the great ones is the ability to perform under pressure. Plenty of talented footballers have never achieved what they could have if they could have handled the pressure, so i think its a more than fair argument to say Joey might easily have never reached the heights he did without the drugs.

After speaking to somebody i know who has worked with him in a football setting, he sounds like he is a decent bloke. Helps anyone out with their games and nothing was ever too much trouble for him. Problem is, like anyone who has been caught, or admitted to taking drugs while playing, there is always going to be a question mark over if they would have been the same player without them.

Alcohol is not a drug ?

When I heard Joey talking about being Piss Fit while on Kangaroo tours I was disgusted .
ie such high tolerance of alcohol comes from abusing it and drinking a lot more than the recommended amounts .