Joey's back: The Andrew Johns comeback that changed State of Origin and the NRL

Michael Hagan still remembers how those two words made him want to sink into his seat on the Queensland team bus and perhaps hide away forever.

It mattered not that Newcastle halfback Andrew Johns, coached by Hagan at club level, had played just one game since returning from a broken jaw, or nine NRL games in almost 15 months.

Because no longer did Queensland's 1-0 2005 series lead seem as large as it did after Matt Bowen swooped on a Brett Kimmorley pass to secure a golden point victory in the series opener.

This is Joey, the greatest halfback of all time.

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It mattered not that earlier that season things were so dire that Johns sat deep in the bowels of Canberra Stadium, wondering if he could ever match it in first grade again.

Newcastle had been thumped by the Canberra Raiders to the tune of 39-14 - it was still their best defensive effort in the opening three rounds.

"We got beaten comfortably and Joey was a bit of a forlorn figure on his own in the sheds," Hagan said.

"He was doubting his own confidence after coming back from an ACL and a broken jaw. There was a bit going on for him, but there was a bit of reassurance for him that he would be fine."

After all, this is Joey.

So when then-NSW coach Ricky Stuart needed a new halfback for game two with Trent Barrett out injured, there was only one man.

Stuart had never seen anything quite like it when Johns stepped onto the training track. Matt King - the unlikely outside back who would go on to win the Brad Fittler Medal - had to pinch himself. This is Joey.

Sure enough "he went onto destroy Queensland in Origin", and the man consoling him that day in the Canberra Stadium sheds was helpless.

Hagan had rarely seen anything quite like it - only Brad Fittler's return a year prior and the shock inclusion of Allan Langer for the Maroons in 2001 come close.

"It was that confidence they give to other people that was talked about," Hagan said.

"When Joey arrived at training, the mood of the camp changed straight away. I know there were some comments around Alfie's return.

"Bryan Fletcher and a couple of guys had spoken about that in reverse while playing for NSW against Queensland. The series was 1-1, Alfie made the trip back from England and they had a bit of a sinking feeling.

"That's absolutely the feeling I had when I heard Trent Barrett had been ruled out and Joey was coming back in to play game two."

Only the greatest player in the world could be handed such an enormous task and handle it better than anybody else could have hoped in their wildest dreams.

"He's got the same bearing on Origin football that Wally Lewis had," Stuart said.

Johns had a hand in all five NSW tries to send 82,389 fans into delirium, he booted a 40-20 which Hagan can still picture to turn the game on its head en route to a 32-22 win and an eventual series triumph.

In club land the Knights ran last following 13 consecutive defeats to open the campaign. But Newcastle won eight of their final 11 matches as Johns roared back to life, finishing second by one point in a Dally M shootout with Johnathan Thurston despite playing just 16 games to the latter's 22.

The Knights had hope, and they would return to the semi-finals the next season. But that 2005 series was it for Johns in sky blue, and he left a legacy few could dare to dream of matching.

"If you look at the Newcastle team from that 2001-2006 period, he might have had a direct influence on six to eight guys playing Origin," Hagan said.

"They were very good players in their own right, talking about guys like Ben Kennedy, Matt Gidley, Steve Simpson, Danny Buderus.

"I think Joey had an influence on Mark Hughes playing outside him, he made him a better player and he went onto play Origin in 2001. He had a fairly influential role in making players around him better.

"The champion players love to play at that level and they love to be put under pressure. He thrived in that environment.

"Everyone has talked about that being one of the more dominant Origin displays, if not the best Origin display of our time."