Steve Johnson says he’s 100 per cent fit and focused ahead of his return to the GIANTS’ line up on Sunday after an eventful fortnight.
Johnson spent time in the physio room and dealing with the police during his two weeks sidelined with a knee injury after his car was stolen and used in a high-speed chase across Sydney.
“I’ve never had anything stolen in my life and this wasn’t the kind of thing I expected,” Johnson said.
“I found out later on that my car had been in a pursuit and had been on the news, so there was a bit of drama but the good thing is I’ll be able to get a new car."
Rumours circulated that the mercurial forward had been indulging in a diet mostly consisting of McDonalds after footage of his recovered car was broadcast across news networks last weekend.
Johnson’s badly damaged white Ford appeared to be full of McDonalds thick shake cups and burger wrappers, but the triple premiership player laughed off suggestions he’d been devouring any fast food products during his injury layoff.
“I’ve been partial to McDonalds on my way home from a match from time to time but certainly haven’t ventured in there in a good couple of months so they weren’t mine,” Johnson said with a smile.
“I don’t know how much Maccas those blokes bought but there were about six empty thick shakes on the back seat; there were McDonalds wrappers everywhere.”
There's been a dramatic police chase in Riverwood which ended with police ramming the car they were after. @Sacre88 #7News pic.twitter.com/JedL5J6AoW
— 7 News Sydney (@7NewsSydney) June 3, 2017
While Johnson will have the task of hunting a new car in the coming days, he’s more focussed on hunting goals against Carlton as the GIANTS aim for a fifth straight win.
The 33-year-old replaces Daniel Lloyd in the GIANTS’ team for their at Etihad Stadium after watching his team-mates wins over West Coast and Essendon from the stands.
“While we haven’t been winning in any great style, we’ve been able to get the job done and grind out some wins which will be important for us later in the year and hopefully puts us in a position to hopefully go deep into the finals,” he said.
“I was very close to playing last week but I think the decision not to play was based around trying to get some continuity in my training and giving my knee every chance to get back close to 100% which I think I’ve really benefited from.”
Johnson said his knee is feeling the best it has this season but he will need to keep a close eye on it as the season progresses.
“I feel like I’m in much better shape than I was two weeks ago which is positive coming into this weekend,” he said.
“It’s been something I’ve been dealing with for the majority of the season but it’s good to have had two weeks off to give it every chance to get back close to 100%.
“It’s probably something that’s going to need to be managed well throughout the season… I probably will have another rest or two as the season goes on.”