Andrew Johns has warned that Jakob Arthur has a big challenge ahead to back up his excellent NRL debut, with the Eighth Immortal reflecting on his own second game struggle after "breaking all these records" in his first game for the Knights.
Johns scored 23 points against South Sydney and won the man of the match award on debut in 1994. The blistering performance made him an almost instant household name and he struggled to cope with the hype, admitting he "played like a busted" the following week.
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While Arthur didn't have quite the same impact, he was a strong performer, scoring a try to seal a hard-fought victory over the Warriors in Magic Round. His father-son connection to the Eels coach ensured a huge week of publicity and Johns said it would be difficult to harness the hype in a positive way for what looms as the match of the round against a red hot Manly on Sunday afternoon.
"I tell ya, it's going to be a big challenge for Jakob Arthur coming off emotionally last week," Johns told Brad Fittler for Wide World of Sports' Freddy & Joey's Tips.
"I remember when I debuted, I had a huge game on debut, broke all these records, the next week I played like a busted because emotionally I was just so drained.
"He's a level-headed boy Jake, so ... great scenes last week."
Johns added that it was one of his highlights of Magic Round when the Eels released behind-the-scenes footage of Brad Arthur's tearful embrace with his son following his debut win, which made a huge splash on social media after surfacing on Tuesday.
"Brad is bawling his eyes out and Brad's a guy with a really hard edge who controls his emotions, it was just the best scenes," Johns said.
The coach's 18-year-old son Jakob Arthur has been named in the No.6 jersey for the second consecutive week and will have a big role to play to give Parramatta a fighting chance to stop the Tom Trbojevic inspired Sea Eagles.
Both Johns and Fittler tipped the Eels to win.
Andrew Johns: Cowboys, Tigers, Sharks, Titans, Roosters, Storm, Panthers, Eels
Brad Fittler: Cowboys, Warriors, Sharks, Titans, Roosters, Storm, Panthers, Eels
Peter Sterling: Cowboys, Warriors, Sharks, Titans, Roosters, Eels, Panthers, Storm
Billy Slater: Cowboys, Warriors, Sharks, Titans, Roosters, Storm, Panthers, Eels
Paul Gallen: Cowboys, Warriors, Sharks, Titans, Roosters, Storm, Panthers, Sea Eagles
Wally Lewis: Cowboys, Warriors, Sharks, Titans, Roosters, Storm, Panthers, Eels
Peter Psaltis: Cowboys, Warriors, Dragons, Titans, Roosters, Storm, Panthers, Eels
Ruan Sims: Cowboys, Tigers, Sharks, Titans, Roosters, Storm, Panthers, Eels
James Bracey: Cowboys, Tigers, Sharks, Titans, Roosters, Storm, Panthers, Sea Eagles
Mat Thompson: Cowboys, Tigers, Sharks, Titans, Roosters, Storm, Panthers, Sea Eagles
The Mole: Cowboys, Warriors, Sharks, Titans, Roosters, Storm, Panthers, Eels
Tim Elbra: Cowboys, Warriors, Dragons, Titans, Roosters, Storm, Panthers, Eels
Ben Glover: Cowboys, Warriors, Sharks, Titans, Roosters, Storm, Panthers, Eels
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from WWOS https://wwos.nine.com.au/nrl/tips-round-11-2021-footy-predictions-andrew-johns-brad-fittler-pick-winners-this-weekend/b199196a-ec46-432d-ab45-19f57bded548
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