Melbourne have a serious shortage of troops ahead of Thursday night’s NRL encounter with Parramatta, but next in line is a 21-year-old with a famous surname.
Storm coach Craig Bellamy confirmed on Wednesday that Cooper Johns, son of Newcastle premiership-winner Matt, will make his debut at halfback should Jahrome Hughes be ruled out with a groin injury.
Hughes didn’t train fully at captain’s run on Wednesday and will be given until Thursday morning to see how he pulls up.
To avoid overwhelming Johns by throwing him in to debut without notice, Bellamy has told the ‘cheeky and confident’ young half to expect to play.
He’s a different build than his dad and NRL Immortal uncle Andrew Johns, but his lively character and skill set is a dead giveaway for the gene pool.
“He’s pretty level-headed on and off the field which is probably not a Johns trait, I hope Matt and Joey don’t mind me saying that,” Bellamy laughed.
“He’s had a good education on life and footy obviously. He’s a very good kid.
“He’s very level-headed with his footy, as you can imagine.
“At training or when he’s been with our Renegades team he’s always got a big voice out there and at meetings he’s always got an opinion on most things, especially on footy.
“He’s a great kid to have around.”
Earlier this season his older brother Jack made his NRL debut with South Sydney.
If he doesn’t get the call up this week, Bellamy said Johns is a certainty to make his NRL debut at some stage this season.
However, if Storm lose Hughes it will be the latest in a string of injuries for the side after Dale Finucane and Suliasi Vunivalu joined the heaving casualty ward this week.
Already sidelined is skipper Cameron Smith and Cameron Munster, while leading prop Jesse Bromwich was found guilty at the judiciary for a ‘hip drop’ tackle and will miss Thursday’s match.
“It’s a little bit for everybody to step up into their roles,” Bellamy said.
“We’re not asking the guys who have come in to be a replica of the guys they’re replacing, we just want them to get out there and play to their strengths.
“We’ve got a game plan where we can do that.”