Matty Johns' sad reveal over Origin fallout with Andrew: 'We have a problem'
The brothers are at the centre of a sad and very high-profile public spat.
"Houston, we have a problem. It's official. Andrew Johns, my brother, is completely off me." And with those words, Matty Johns confirmed on Friday he and his brother – rugby league's eighth Immortal – were still not on speaking terms weeks after an on-air spat.
The brothers had a stoush on Matty's Radio SEN Morning Glory show in mid-May, with Joey accusing his older sibling of supporting Queensland. "Put your Maroon jersey on, you should have some at home. Just because you played four games and lost four doesn’t mean you need to sh-t bag NSW," Joey told his older sibling.
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"I'm sick of you (pumping up) Queensland. Keep blowing hot air up their ar*es." Listeners weren't quite sure if it was a fair dinkum stink or not, but it appears so.
"He was coming in this morning – there were rumours he might not – and I just thought the last three weeks of him not returning phone calls was laziness. Obviously not," Matty Johns told his audience on Friday morning. The bottom line is he's off me (and) this is nothing new for me and Joey.
"We were forced to share a bedroom together for 19 years. We've had our fill of each other. Every six months we have a blue like this and it just gives each of us a break from one another."
Johns brothers have feuded in the past
Asked how long these feuds could last, Matty replied with a laugh: "The longest went for two years. That's the way the cookie crumbles. The show must go on." Andrew Johns is known to take Origin defeats hard and was strong in his condemnation of NSW's performance in game one.
He told Channel 9: " The attack was terrible, they had so much momentum, so much possession. It was really poor. I thought New South Wales were really poor."
But his brother denied Joey's non-appearance on radio had anything to do with the result.
"I'm going to defend my brother here. Him not coming in has nothing to do with State of Origin," Matt said.
"I thought his comments after the game were very strong and upfront and honest."
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