As premiership winning NRL players, it’s safe to say brothers Andrew ‘Joey’ and Matthew ‘Matty’ Johns are passionate about the sport that saw them both bring the Newcastle Knights to a premiership win in 1997.
But their passion for the sport, which has continued in their post-footy media careers, also sparked a nasty feud between the brothers.
Chatting with Mark Beretta on his podcast Beretts’ Best, Matty revealed he sometimes resented growing up in the shadow of his younger brother.
“When Joey was making his first grade debut in 1994, I’d been there 12 months earlier and I spoke to him the night before the game,” Matty, 55, told Mark.
“I told him ‘just warning you mate this is a step up, it’s different, don’t have too big expectations and just be patient’. Well [that night] he broke the club point-scoring record, scoring 23 pioints on that, but he scored two tries and after the game he went ‘it’s not that hard’.”
Matty also revealed that he struggled with Joey’s early success.
“Things were so easy for Andrew as he was the first one picked for the Australian and Origin sides and suddenly you’re below that,” Matty revealed.
“You feel lke you’re in the shadow, and you’re only human. There’s parts of you that resent that.”
Taking a break from each other
While the brothers have always shared a close relationship, a nasty feud that lasted nearly a year and a half erupted in 2023.
That June while Andrew was the assistant coach to the NSW State of Origin team, Matty made some favourable comments about the Queensland side and it’s coach Billy Slater on his radio show on SEN (Sports Entertainment Network), Morning Glory.
“Slater’s close to the best coach in the game,” Matty said. “You just know how he explains, how he coaches, the intricacies, the players absolutely love him. Queensland know exactly how they’re going to play and who they need to pick to make that happen.”
When Joey asked his brother if he believed the Blues didn’t know how they were going to play, Matty delivered a cold “nope”, which set the younger Johns brother off.
“Mate, I’m sick of you rapping Queensland, that’s what I’m sick of,” replied Andrew.
After their on-air tiff, the owner of SEN, Craig Hutchinson tried to help the brothers mend the rift, but was unsuccessful.
A few weeks later, Matty publicly commented on the situation.
“The bottom line is he’s off me. It’s nothing new for me and Joey,” he said on Morning Glory three weeks after the argument.
“We were forced to share a bedroom for 19 years. Every six months we have a blue like this, and it gives us a break from each other.”
Making amends
But after 16 months of no contact, Matty revealed it was his son Jack, 29, that helped mend the rift between the brothers.
“Jack came and saw me and I was having a new beers on the couch. I think I was onto about ber 11, and he said ‘Dad, do you want to go for a drive? I want to show you something’,” said Matty.
“He drove me over to Bronte [where Joey lives] and he said to get in there, apologise and make up. So I went in there and me and Joey had a cuddle and made up.”
And this isn’t the first time Jack has reunited the feuding brothers, with Matty also revealing Jack’s birth in 1997 ended another period of tension between him and Joey.
“That’s twice Jack’s done that to the family,” Matty said of Jack, who just like his dad and uncle, played for the Knights NRL team from 2021 to 2023.
“It made me really proud of him.”
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