Cameron plays down Johnson concern
The intrigue surrounding the Giants’ Steve Johnson continues to grow with the triple premiership player keeping all his moves secret ahead of Saturday’s preliminary final against Richmond at the MCG.
Johnson was in the stands at Spotless Stadium chatting with coach Leon Cameron and watched his teammates warm up and waited for the media to leave before he took to the training track.
Johnson has played back-to-back games only three times since round nine this season.
“We expect Steve to train,” Cameron said.
“We’re out here for 50 minutes, he normally trains for about 25 or 30 of that. If he gets through that unscathed we expect him to pull up well and play from there. If he struggles today then we are on the back foot a little bit.
“He did everything right yesterday, he did his normal thing yesterday, he and Brett Deledio will train about the 30-minute mark today. If they get through and pull up we expect they’ll be right for Saturday.” Cameron said the decision to play or rest him for the Saturday’s preliminary final would be a joint one between he and Johnson.
“It’s not just myself, it’s myself and Steve being honest with each other,” Cameron said.
“If he hasn’t recovered from one week to the next and I know it’s a huge game on the weekend but you don’t want a person running around too hindered to perform at his best. We know he goes in at 90% most weeks but so does most of the Richmond squad because it’s the end of a long year.”
Cameron said the issue was mostly related to Johnson’s aging knees but also to the wear and tear of 17 years in the AFL.
Devon Smith looks the most likely to replace him should Johnson fail to recover.
“He trained well, Cameron said.
“We’ve had him on this running program with his knee and his last two or three weeks have improved dramatically.”