‘We need them to be strong’: Why Joey was happy to help touring English side

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Andrew Johns fears for the state of rugby league in England should Australia record an Ashes whitewash over the next three weeks.

The game’s Eighth Immortal spent time working with players from the Warrington Wolves’ academy in blistering heat at Sydney Olympic Park earlier this week, and was impressed by some of the club’s teenagers.

Johns said the best way for England to keep developing the next generation of players was for their national side to compete strongly on the world stage – starting with the three-Test Ashes series against the Kangaroos.

“The game is flying here [Australia], it’s flying in New Zealand, the Pacific nations are just getting bigger, but we need England to be strong,” Johns said.

“This Ashes series is so important for the game over there. They will be physical, but it will be a matter of whether they have the class to win.

“When you talk about Reece Walsh, Cam Munster, Nathan [Cleary] and Harry [Grant], that’s up there with the best spine Australia has had. But we need England to be more than competitive.”

Andrew Johns helped coach a touring academy side from Warrington.

Johns played with Warrington in the Super League, and has remained friends with the club’s owner, Simon Moran, who played a big role in reuniting rock band Oasis for their current global tour. He has also remained in contact with the club’s head coach, former South Sydney favourite Sam Burgess.

Johns spent a few hours with the under-18 team, who thumped the Western Rams 50-10 on the weekend in Penrith, and will play two more games against a representative NSW team and a Gold Coast academy side next weekend. Opposed sessions against junior teams from the Bulldogs and Dolphins are also scheduled.

Johns was initially worried about the tourists coping with the stifling heat.

Matthew Johns declared a few years ago his brother’s communication skills and football nous would make him a first-class head coach, but Andrew Johns insisted fulltime coaching held no appeal.

Andrew Johns helped some of the Warrington players with basic kicking, and their posture when ball playing.

“They asked me if I could help out, and I was only too happy to give them a hand,” Johns said. “I went out and did some basic kicks with them, and worked on their posture with ball playing.

“The boys were good, and moved well – they moved a lot better than their teacher. I enjoyed my time, but coaching isn’t for me. I have the best job in the world now, and I don’t need the stress of coaching.

“I wouldn’t do it to myself or my family. There’s no way I’d handle it. I didn’t handle it that well when I was playing. When things are out of your control [on game day], I have no interest.”