knee injury handing Johns his opportunity. Subsequently, he was named in the starting line-up against the South Sydney Rabbitohs and in his début match made an immediate impact as he amassed 23 points and won the Man of the Match award. He soon formed a winning partnership with his older brother, Matthew, who had played at the Knights since 1991. 1995–2001 The 1995 ARL season saw prosperous times for Johns, as in the absence of Super League-aligned players, he was selected for the first time to represent New South Wales in the 1995 State of Origin series. Incumbent New South Wales Ricky Stuart was not selected due to his affiliation with Super League. Also that year he was able to make his début for the Kangaroos in Australia's successful 1995 World Cup campaign in England. He played as a and was named man of the match in the decider against England at Wembley Stadium as Australia once again retained the World Cup. At the conclusion of the World Cup, Johns was awarded his first significant accolade, being named Most Valuable Player of the tournament. The following year Johns was moved to for the State of Origin, with New South Wales selectors favouring Geoff Toovey in the role. Since then, Johns was regularly chosen for state and national representative sides when fit, only missing out on a Blues or Australian cap due to injury. During the 1997 ARL season Johns played a pivotal role in guiding the Knights to their first grand final appearance—against defending champions and '97 minor premiers the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles. There were grave concerns leading up to the match that Johns would be unable to play the game, as he had suffered three broken ribs and a punctured lung only a fortnight earlier. However, Johns was able to play, and with less than a minute of the match to go with scores tied at 16-all Johns made a play that has gone down in rugby league folklore. He went out of position unexpectedly and into dummy half where he ran down a narrow blind side before slipping a pass to Newcastle Darren Albert for the match-winning try. With only six seconds remaining in the game Newcastle had snatched victory and secured their first premiership title. The following year in the new National Rugby League the Knights performed even better during the regular season than in the