Johns brothers embrace battle that turned back the clock

There was one family who walked away from Mudgee completely satisfied and all smiles on Saturday, and it was a famous one at that.

A 32-32 draw between the Sea Eagles and Knights left both coaches disappointed neither team could close out the game but for Johns brothers Jack and Cooper, the result couldn’t have been more appropriate.

The sons of Knights legend Matthew Johns took on each other for the first time in their lives, a clash that provided all the drama and fittingly ended with scores even for the family. 

In the end, Jack might’ve come out in front ever-so slightly in the brother battle after crashing over under the posts in the first half but the scenes that followed were just as special as the on-field efforts with both players swapping jerseys.

"It means the world to me, I'm sure it does Cooper as well. I wanted to get his jersey so bad... who knows if we'll ever play each other again in the future," Jack told ABC Sport.

"I'm going to keep his jersey, even if it comes out of his pay."

Johns senior notoriously tries to stay out of his children's NRL journeys as much as he can, as he has done for majority of their careers and it was no different on Saturday.

He admitted it was a “strange” experience to watch his two sons do battle in Mudgee, more than 20 years after Matthew took on Andrew for the first and only time of their careers in 2002.

Matthew would not need any more reminding of that result against his brother, which ended in a 52-8 thrashing in Newcastle.

"It was a rather embarrassing night. It was the only time I played Joey. They gave me a nice return home and then they beat us by 50 points," Johns told Fox League on Saturday. 

“The most embarrassing thing was they gave me a standing ovation coming off.” “It was almost like [the Newcastle crowd] were saying ‘thank you’.

"There was a bit of sledging going on that day. Me towards Joey though... Joey's not that sharp."

Johns said he was proud of both his son's resilience to play in the NRL given they haven't enjoyed the same sort of journey that both their father and uncle had during their careers.

Cooper started his career in Manly's junior system before moving to Melbourne, where he was an understudy to the likes of Cooper Cronk and Jahrome Hughes.

He returned to the Northern Beaches this season but is yet to enter the club's top 30. 

Jack represented Italy at the 2017 World Cup and after a stint with South Sydney he made his way back to Newcastle, but has been plagued by injuries.

"Jack had a shoulder reconstruction last year and had an infection the whole way through it," Matthew said. 

"For a period there he was unsure where his career was going to be. This is the first opportunity he's had to have a full off-season and he's ripped in.

"Last year taught him don't take your health for granted. When they're healthy, we're happy."