Golden boy takes glare in his stride

NEWCASTLE HERALD

By Robert Dillon

THERE were times when it all became too much for Andrew Johns.

Intense pressure to perform on-field miracles on a weekly basis, combined with the unrelenting glare of media attention and the instant recognition from people in the street, left the former Knights skipper battling demons that did not publicly emerge until late last year.

Life in the Newcastle fishbowl might have been claustrophobic for "Joey" on occasions, but the city's latest sporting golden boy, Jets striker Joel Griffiths, feels no such inner anguish. Griffiths says he loves the Novocastrian lifestyle, the city's passion for sport and has taken his sudden and spectacular rise to hero status in his stride.

Even the barrage of press interviews in grand final week, which invariably feature the same questions repeated ad nauseum, have been conducted with enthusiasm.

If this is the price of fame, then Griffiths is happy to pay it.

"I enjoy it it's not like I'm Britney Spears and I've got paparazzi following me to the shops," he said.

"The people up here are great. That's one thing I like about Newcastle people. They'll come up to you and have a chat, talk about the game, but they won't be in your face.

"They'll respect your space, and that's all good. I like to meet people and talk to them, no matter who it is.

"The Novocastrian people have really helped our team out in terms of our success.

"It seems like the whole town is behind us, and this week's a big week for us, but it's a huge week for them.

"We've given a lot of kids some dreams to follow, and I think we're role model to kids who play sport. Hopefully it continues. I certainly don't take it for granted."

The 28-year-old remembers all too well how things were only a few years ago.

He spent two comparatively low-key seasons with Newcastle United, from 2001 to 2003, playing in the former National Soccer League, before heading abroad for stints with Neuchatel Xamax in Switzerland and Leeds United in England.

Upon his return last season, soccer had become football but not as Griffiths had previously known it in his home country.


Big crowds, live television and wholesale media coverage have lifted the round-ball code to the stage where it is no longer a minority sport battling for the scraps left over by rugby league, union and the AFL.

And in the brave new world that is the A-League, Griffiths has established himself as a bona fide box-office drawcard.

With 14 goals for the season, he is a runaway winner of the Golden Boot award and is hot favourite to also collect the Johnny Warren Medal for player of the year.

In the space of two seasons, he has become the face of the Jets as high-profile as any Knights player, including champion hooker Danny Buderus.

Not that Joel consciously strives for individual honours or recognition.

"Accolades like the Golden Boot and being in contention for the Johnny Warren Medal are just the icing on the cake," he said.

"Things like winning a grand final and getting the team into the Asian Champions League are more what I was aiming for."

Griffiths nonetheless agrees that this has been the best season of his career and that he is perhaps at the peak of his powers.

"It was quite weird actually, as the season went on I just kept on building momentum," he said. "I kept on finding little bits of my game that I could improve and just went from one strength to another.

"There was a good three- or four-week patch in the middle of the season that was probably the best I've felt going into games.

"I'd watch replays of the games to see how'd I'd been playing. The amount of runs off the ball, you don't realise you're doing them, it just happens naturally.

"The last couple of games I've felt a little bit flat, but there's no bigger game than a grand final, and I'll be doing everything I can to get us over the line."

Comparisons to Johns, even though the pair play different sports, are inevitable, and Griffiths admits he finds the "one-man team" label tiresome. Like it or not, the fact that Griffiths has missed five games over the past two years and Newcastle have lost all of them means that theory is unlikely to be discredited any time soon.

"We proved last weekend that's not true," he insisted. "I think that one-man team stuff has really gone out the window. It's quite embarrassing, really.

"I've got my mates out there who bust their arses just as hard as I do. The media are entitled to their opinions, but it is a little bit embarrassing to see the hard work everyone puts in that isn't recognised."

Johns may have struggled with living his life on a pedestal, but Griffiths has not yet found the spotlight too intrusive.

"Joey's different to myself," Griffiths said.

"He's a lot bigger in terms of what he's achieved in rugby league, and he's got a lot of people not just in Newcastle but also in Sydney and Queensland who look up to him and respect him. I think the A-League is going in that direction. I suppose I can understand where he is coming from, where it can be a bit much . . . but in saying that, it doesn't really bother me at the moment.

"I'm willing to do as much media as possible as long as it's positive and it's all good for the club and the Hunter and the game."