Brian Stuart Johnston (born 13 November 1958 in

Dunedoo, New South Wales Dunedoo ( ) is a village of 1,021 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 (''Dunny'' is a colloquial Australian ...

) is an Australian former

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 112 ...

footballer and administrator. He played with 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 ...

and represented for the

Australian national rugby league team The Australian National Rugby League Team, the Kangaroos, have represented Australia in senior men's rugby league football competition since the establishment of the 'Northern Union game' in Australia in 1908. Administered by the Australian ...

on one occasion. Johnston's position of choice was but his speed also saw him play on the , especially in representative teams.

Career

An athletic speedster who played Colts for

Eastern Suburbs RUFC The Eastern Suburbs Rugby Union Football Club is a team in the Intrust Super Shute Shield, the premier club rugby union football competition in New South Wales. The club is based in Rose Bay in the eastern suburbs of Sydney, and was founded ...

while studying at the

Institute of Technology An institute of technology (also referred to as: technological university, technical university, university of technology, technological educational institute, technical college, polytechnic university or just polytechnic) is an institution of te ...

in Sydney, Johnston signed with St George in 1980 and played for

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 ...

in the

State of Origin A State of Origin competition is a type of sporting event between players representing their state or territory. State of Origin began in Australian rules football on 8 October 1977 between Western Australia (WA) and Victoria, at Subiaco Oval ...

series on eight occasions between 1984–1989. He represented in the centres or at wing for the Blues in all three games of the

1987 State of Origin series The 1987 State of Origin series saw the sixth time the annual three-match series between the New South Wales and Queensland representative rugby league football teams was contested entirely under 'State of Origin' selection rules. It saw the em ...

plus the 4th 'exhibition' game played in Los Angeles. He was also selected for one game in the

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

and

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

Origin series. After missing the 1988 series, Johnston was recalled for Game 3 of the

1989 State of Origin series The 1989 State of Origin series was the eighth time the annual three-game series between New South Wales and Queensland was contested entirely under 'state of origin' selection rules. It was Queensland's second consecutive Origin clean-sweep and ...

in what would be his final representative appearance. Injury caused Johnston to miss a place in St. George's 1985 Grand Final side which went down 6–7 to the

Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Belmore, a suburb in the Canterbury-Bankstown region of Sydney. They compete in the NRL Telstra Premiership, as well as competitions facilita ...

and he was considered unlucky not to tour with the 1986 Kangaroos. Brian Johnston played in his only test for

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

in 1987, coming off the reserves bench in Australia's shock 6–13 loss to

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

Lang Park Lang Park, also known as Brisbane Football Stadium, by the sponsored name Suncorp Stadium, and nicknamed: 'The Cauldron', is a multi-purpose stadium in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, located in the suburb of Milton. The current facility co ...

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

. Johnston assumed the St George captaincy in 1989 but retired at the beginning of the 1990 season because of injury. He was awarded Life Membership 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 ...

club in 1990.Dragons- Our Proud History website

Administrative career

After football, he became St George's chief executive officer in 1996. He was named Australian Test manager for the 1999 ANZAC Test. Johnston drew criticism of his handling of the sacking of

Craig Gower Craig Gower (born 29 April 1978) is an Italian-Australian former professional rugby league and rugby union footballer who played in the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s. He is a dual-code rugby international, having played rugby league for Australia and ...

for misbehaviour in the week before the Test. He resigned in 1999 because of ill health.

References

Sources

''Encyclopedia of Rugby League Players, St George/Illawarra'' edition, Alan Whiticker & Glen Hudson {{DEFAULTSORT:Johnston, Brian Australian rugby league players St. George Dragons players New South Wales Rugby League State of Origin players Australia national rugby league team players Country New South Wales rugby league team players Country New South Wales Origin rugby league team players Australian chief executives Australian rugby league administrators 1958 births Living people Rugby league centres Rugby league wingers