It’s lucky he loves the attention because a famous surname and a controversial penalty has amplified the spotlight on Melbourne NRL debutant Cooper Johns.
The 21-year-old son of Newcastle legend Matthew Johns has dealt with the scrutiny that comes with bearing the name his whole life, so naturally his debut on Thursday night was no different.
In what was a mixed night for the young halfback, the biggest moment came when he was placed on report for a crusher tackle on Parramatta’s Maika Sivo in the first half of the 14-0 loss.
Now facing at least two weeks on the sidelines if he is charged by the match review committee on Friday, Johns said after the game he is confident of escaping penalty.
“I’m not too worried about that one to be honest, I don’t think there was too much in it,” he said.
“Sivo’s got about 40 kilos on me too, I don’t think it would have hurt him, I think he was just trying to draw a penalty.”
It comes after Parramatta coach Brad Arthur denied Sivo had milked the penalty by grabbing his neck and laying down, while Storm coach Craig Bellamy respectfully disagreed.
The controversial moment did not sour the emotional debut for Johns who was deputising for injured half Jarhome Hughes.
Bellamy had told him all week he was a 90 per cent chance to play but Johns believed the worst until he finally got the call up on Wednesday afternoon.
It meant the attention, while intense on game day, was as shortlived as possible.
“I’ve sort of had that my whole life really. And ask my dad, I like a lot of attention,” he laughed.
“I’m a bit of an attention seeker so I handled it pretty good and it made for a lot of emotion for the game.
“I did enjoy myself, I probably built it up a lot bigger in my head to be honest.
“Dad and (uncle, Andrew Johns) upped it in my head, probably built it up to be something bigger than it was but when you get out there, the adrenaline starts pumping and 10 minutes felt like 10 seconds, really.
“I was very grateful that he gave me the chance to wear the jersey tonight and I’m looking forward to the next time I get to wear it.”