Albert Johnston

Balmain junior toured NZ with the NSW team in 1913 but had to wait until after the end of WWI to win a Test jersey. After a season with Wests in 1918, 'Ricketty' Johnston joined Newtown and made his Test debut at five-eighth in the First Test on Australia’s ground-breaking tour of NZ in 1919. In the fourth Test of the series in Auckland, Johnston captained Australia to a 32-2 victory. Captaining NSW in two matches against the visiting Lions in 1920, he was selected to lead Australia in the opening Test of the Ashes series in the absence of champion centre Hilton Gilbert. Despite a last minute reshuffling of the team which saw Johnston move to halfback Australia won the match in Brisbane, 8-4. Although he lost the captaincy on Gilbert's return Johnston played in the remaining two Tests at five-eighth and helped Australia to secure the Ashes for the first time on home soil. Johnston joined Gilbert at the newly promoted St George club in 1921 (the veteran pivot lived in Oatley and was forced to move clubs because of the strict residential qualifications of the time). He and George Carstairs became the club's first Kangaroo tourists at the end of the year although Johnston had the honour of becoming St George's first Test player when he was chosen in the First Test at Leeds. Following his retirement, he was coach and sole selector at Newtown in 1923 & 1925-26 and also coached Wests (1924) and St George (1933-35) during his career. Johnston, who coached NSW in 1938-42 and 1946, was the Australian Test coach in the first post-war Ashes series in 1946.