It was the early 90s. The Knights were playing in a semi-final.
Harold Matthews were playing as one of the curtain raisers that day.
A young Andrew Johns was playing in that match.
It was the first time Marc Glanville had laid eyes on Joey.
“I thought geez who’s this kid,” said Glanville.
“Andrew was playing in the team and just carved it up.
“He was only 16 and he was kicking goals, setting tries up and I thought how good is this kid?
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“Sure enough he ended up coming in to first grade and as we know it, he’s probably the best that has ever played the game.”
It was 1994 when Glanville first played alongside Joey.
Andrew made his incredible debut for the Knights against South Sydney.
“I was fortunate enough to play four years with him,” said Glanville.
The Knights forward recalled the Johns brothers were a talented pair, but they also got ahead of themselves a little bit.
“Him (Andrew) and Matthew tried to do all this different footy and us senior blokes would just want to go forward for a set, get the platform happening,” Glanville explained.
“On the field they probably saw things that we didn’t. We had to contain them around their enthusiasm.
“There was a fine line between saying you need to learn how to control a game, but they had so much skill and ability.
“So what do you do….. do you let them go?”
Glanville believed it wasn’t until after that memorable 97’ grand final that Joey really thrived.
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“It wasn’t until after 97’ I think he believed that he could do whatever,” he said.
“In the 2000s that was when he was next level, in control of the game.
“He could win a game like you wouldn’t believe.
“When Joey got a bit older and he was captain, he could control the game and knew what was happening. It was just phenomenal.”
