The split between footy legend brothers Matthew and Andrew Johns is so deep that nobody will be able to play peacemaker between the siblings, Matthew’s NRL star son Cooper has revealed.
Earlier this year the siblings had a huge row on live radio when Matthew praised Queensland State of Origin coach Billy Slater. Diehard NSW man Andrew lashed out at his brother for continuing to ‘s**tbag’ the Blues team they both starred for in the heated exchange on SEN’s Morning Glory show.
Andrew has since walked away from his Friday morning radio show and he is not expected to return. On Wednesday, Cooper told The Kyle and Jackie O Show that he believes the feud is so bad it can’t be put to rest.
Plenty of fans and pundits expected the row to blow over, but the pair are still not on speaking terms, despite SEN boss Craig Hutchison’s efforts to smooth things over between the siblings.
‘They still haven’t spoken,’ he told Kyle Sandilands, who then asked if Cooper could get the pair to put their argument aside. ‘I don’t know if anybody could do that, Kyle,’ he replied, adding that if they tried to get the brothers together on air to thrash things out, Andrew would refuse to do so.
The show then got Matthew on the line and asked about the feud spilling over into his radio show now that Andrew has stopped appearing on it. ‘I’m enjoying the break,’ he said. ‘Both of us hold a pretty good grudge. It’s a little bit like Italian Alzheimer’s – you forget everything except your grudges.’
While Andrew has not been talking to Matthew, he does remain in contact with his sibling’s sons, Jack and Cooper. ‘I talk to him,’ Knights backrower Jack said on a recent podcast. ‘Me and him are quite close.’
Earlier this month Matthew seemed to hold out some hope of a reunion as he admitted he still wasn’t on speaking terms with his brother, saying: ‘Plans to catch up have been put on hold. We might see him at Christmas … might.’ He has also revealed that he tried to patch things up with his younger brother and reached out when Andrew turned 49, but didn’t get a response.
The feud kicked off when Matthew praised Slater, who steered Queensland to a 2-1 series victory in last year’s series despite facing a NSW team many experts considered clearly more talented than the Cane Toads.
Calling the former Storm icon ‘close to the best coach in the game’, the elder of the pair said Slater’s players ‘love him’ and the Queensland side have their game plan down pat, while NSW don’t. That set Andrew off and he replied, ‘I’m sick of you rapping Queensland.’
