Leslie Howard Johns (born 1942 in Newcastle, New South Wales) is a former Australian professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1960s and early 1970s.
Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Leslie Howard Johns | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 22 July 1942 Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Playing information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Fullback | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Club career
editLes Johns, of Welsh descent, started his career at Newcastle's Souths club.
He then played nine seasons for the Canterbury-Bankstown club between 1963 and 1971. He scored 14 tries and 233 goals and 19 field goals for Canterbury-Bankstown during his career.
He has been named among the nation's finest footballers of the 20th century.[3] He was a fullback of considerable flair and on his day could be one of the most brilliant attacking and defensive players in the game.
He was forced to retire from rugby league in 1971 due to chronic knee injuries.
Representative career
editJohns played sixteen games for the New South Wales rugby league team between 1962 and 1969. He represented Australia on fourteen occasions between 1963 and 1969, first touring with the 1963/64 Kangaroos.
He is listed on the Australian Players Register as Kangaroo No.382.[4]
Accolades
editIn February 2008, Johns was named in the list of Australia's 100 Greatest Players (1908–2007) which was commissioned by the NRL and ARL to celebrate the code's centenary year in Australia.[5]
He was made a life member of the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs in 2011.[6]
In 2010 Johns was also named in a South Newcastle team of the century.[7]
Footnotes
edit- ^ RLP
- ^ Yesterday's Hero
- ^ Century's Top 100 Players Archived 25 February 2008 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ ARL Annual Report, 2005
- ^ "Centenary of Rugby League – The Players". NRL & ARL. 23 February 2008. Archived from the original on 26 February 2008. Retrieved 23 February 2008.
- ^ "Johns and Langmack Receive Life Membership at Bulldogs AGM". Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs. 13 February 2011. Archived from the original on 22 February 2011. Retrieved 14 February 2011.
- ^ Leeson, John (14 June 2010). "Souths honour greatest players". The Newcastle Herald. Retrieved 30 December 2011.