Albert "Ricketty" Johnston (1891–1961) was a pioneering Australian

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 11 ...

footballer who played in the 1910s and 1920s, and coached from the 1920s to the 1940s. He was a three-quarter for the Australian national team, and played in eight tests between 1919 and 1922, two as captain.

Playing career

Club career

He was born and grew up in Balmain, Sydney, and started playing rugby league at a junior level when the game commenced in Australia in 1908. In 1911 he made his first grade debut with the

Balmain Tigers The Balmain Tigers (also known as the Sydney Tigers from 1995–96) are a rugby league club based in the inner-western Sydney suburb of Balmain. They were a founding member of the New South Wales Rugby League and one of the most successful i ...

at half-back. Following Arthur Halloway's move to the Tigers in 1915, Johnston moved to five-eighth and their strong halves partnership was one of factors enabling Balmain to three consecutive premiership titles from 1915 to 1917.Whiticker pp59-61 He joined Wests for the 1918 season, then spent two years as captain-coach at Newtown 1919-20. Following his Australian representative appearances in 1920 the admission of the

St George Dragons The St. George Dragons is an Australian rugby league football club from St George District in Sydney, New South Wales that played in the top level New South Wales competition and Australian Rugby League competitions from the 1921 until th ...

meant that Johnston being a local resident had to play with the club, which he did for his final two club seasons of 1921 and 1922.

Representative career

In 1912 he was selected in a Sydney Metropolis side. In 1913 he was in a

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

touring squad to New Zealand as half-back but was kept out of the major matches by the form of his peer Arthur Halloway. He captained

in some 1918 games and then made his Australian Test debut in 1919 on Australia's tour of New Zealand. He scored a try on debut assisting Australia to a 44-21 victory. With tour captain Halloway unfit for the 3rd Test Johnston led the side to a series victory in Auckland in the process becoming Australia's 11th Kangaroo captain. In 1920 Johnston was chosen for the first Test of the domestic Ashes series. He captained the side to an 8-4 victory over England. Herb Gilbert took over as captain for the 2nd and 3rd Tests but Johnston's continued successful halves pairing with Queenslander

Duncan Thompson Duncan Fulton Thompson MBE (14 March 1895 – 17 May 1980) was an Australian veteran of both WWI and WWII and a rugby league footballer, coach and administrator. He was wounded on active service in WWI and has been named amongst the natio ...

set a platform for the talented backline featuring

Harold Horder Harold Norman Horder (23 February 1894 – 21 August 1978) was an Australian rugby league player. He was a national and state representative player whose club career was with South Sydney and North Sydney between 1912 and 1924. Regarded as o ...

, Dick Vest and Gilbert, and Australia won the series and the Ashes for the first time on home soil. Johnston did not captain Australia again. He appeared for New South Wales through till 1922 and toured with the 1921-22 Kangaroos playing in the 1st Test and in 11 tour matches.

Coaching career

Johnston coached Newtown in 1923, 1925 and 1926 and Wests in 1924. He coached St George in 1933-35 taking the club to their first premiership final.

Accolades

He was awarded Life Membership of the

New South Wales Rugby League The New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL) is the governing body of rugby league in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory and is a member of the Australian Rugby League Commission. It was formed in Sydney on 8 August 1907 and was ...

in 1938. He was a state selector from 1938 and

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

coach from 1939 to 1946. He was a national selector in 1946 and coach of the national side for the 1946 first post-WWII Anglo-Australian series.The Courier Mail, Brisbane. "Ricketty Johnson to coach Australian Team." 5 April 1946.

References

Sources & Footnotes

* Whiticker, Alan (2004) ''Captaining the Kangaroos'', New Holland, Sydney {{DEFAULTSORT:Johnston, Albert 1892 births 1961 deaths Australasia rugby league team players Australia national rugby league team captains Australia national rugby league team coaches Australia national rugby league team players Australian rugby league administrators Australian rugby league coaches Australian rugby league players Balmain Tigers players New South Wales rugby league team captains New South Wales rugby league team coaches New South Wales rugby league team players Newtown Jets coaches Newtown Jets players Rugby league centres Rugby league players from Sydney St. George Dragons coaches St. George Dragons players Western Suburbs Magpies coaches Western Suburbs Magpies players