A couple of years ago, Mitchel Johnson was being touted as Parramatta's next big front row prospect having starred in the representative juniors and being a consistent standout for the Eel's NYC side.
A big young, aggressive prop Johnson then suddenly disappeared from Parramatta's ranks. Nothing was ever officially announced, but rumours filtered through that he had been released and he was quickly snapped up by the Melbourne Storm.
Neither Johnson or the club have every spoken on the record as to why the prop was released, but in a Herald Sun article today Johnson blamed a fallout with former coach Daniel Anderson.
Johnson was describe as best-on-ground in Melbourne's most recent trial.
"I had been at Parra since I was 16 and I had a run-in with Daniel Anderson about this time last year," Johnson was quoted as saying
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"He basically told my manager to find somewhere else. He didn't think I could play first grade. I am much happier down here and Craig Bellamy has shown some faith in me."
Johnson has always had a reputation as something of a hothead, and the article reports that he recently traded punches with fellow Storm prop Adam Woolnough, which he dismissed as a "heat-of-the-moment" front rower kind of thing that was immediately forgotten.
Replies
Good on him.
Have you ever noticed that when someone gets punted or leaves a firm, they become the scapegoat for all the shit that happens.
Good to see Mitchell has been true with pointing the finger at a previous coach for his misfortunes, as for punching on with Woolnough, I think that just displays the attitude that this kid had.
The few times I saw him play I thought he was the best young prop I'd ever seen in the lower grades (even ahead of Tim Mannah). I was bummed when he left.
I don't mind the idea of having a hot-headed prop forward on the roster - the aggression is always welcome and if they can learn to temper it (like Michael Weyman did) they can become rep stars (like Michael Weyman).
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