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Brian Johnston (rugby league)
Encyclopedia
Brian Stuart Johnston is a village of 836 inhabitants situated within the Warrumbungle Shire of central western New South Wales, Australia. Dunedoo is well known to Australian travellers due to its distinctive name...
) is a former Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n rugby league
Rugby league
Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...
player and administrator. He played with the St George Dragons and represented for the Australian national rugby league team
Australian national rugby league team
The Australian national rugby league team have represented Australia in senior men's rugby league football competition since the establishment of the game in Australia in 1908. Administered by the Australian Rugby League, the Kangaroos' are ranked number one in the RLIF World Rankings...
on one occasion.
An athletic speedster, Johnston signed with St George in 1980 and played for New South Wales
New South Wales Rugby League team
The New South Wales rugby league team has represented the Australian state of New South Wales in rugby league football since the sport's beginnings there in 1907. Administered by the New South Wales Rugby League, the team competes in the annual State of Origin series against arch-rivals, the...
in the State of Origin
Rugby League State of Origin
State of Origin is an annual best of three series of rugby league football matches contested by the Maroons and the Blues, who represent the Australian states of Queensland and New South Wales respectively...
series on eight occasions between 1984-1989. He represented in the centres or at wing for the Blues
New South Wales Rugby League team
The New South Wales rugby league team has represented the Australian state of New South Wales in rugby league football since the sport's beginnings there in 1907. Administered by the New South Wales Rugby League, the team competes in the annual State of Origin series against arch-rivals, the...
in all four games of the 1987 series and in one game in each series of 1984-86, with a one match recall in 1989.
His highest representative honour came with selection as a reserve back for Australia
Australian national rugby league team
The Australian national rugby league team have represented Australia in senior men's rugby league football competition since the establishment of the game in Australia in 1908. Administered by the Australian Rugby League, the Kangaroos' are ranked number one in the RLIF World Rankings...
in the one-off Test against New Zealand
New Zealand national rugby league team
The New Zealand national rugby league team has represented New Zealand in rugby league football since intercontinental competition began for the sport in 1907. Administered by the New Zealand Rugby League, they are commonly known as the Kiwis, after the native bird of that name...
in 1987.
Johnston assumed the St George captaincy in 1989 but retired at the beginning of the 1990 season because of injury.
After football he became St George's Chief Executive Officer in 1996. He was named Australian Test manager for the 1999 Anzac Test
ANZAC Test
The Anzac Test is an annual rugby league football test match . The test match is played annually between Australia and New Zealand on or around Anzac Day for the Bill Kelly Memorial Trophy.-Origins:Australia and New Zealand had competed in Rugby League Tests since 1908...
. Johnston drew criticism of his handling of the sacking of Craig Gower
Craig Gower
Craig Gower is an Australian-Italian professional rugby footballer. He is a dual-code rugby international, having played rugby league for Australia, and rugby union for Italy...
for misbehaviour in the week before the Test. He resigned in 1999 because of ill health.
Currently he is on the Club's Board of Directors.