johns

Courtney Johns

Photograph by Zeitfixiereron Flickr.

1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 2008. * Appearances (Goals) Courtney Johns is an Australian Courtney Johns rules football player in the Australian Football League. At the end of the 2008 season he was delisted by the johns Essendon Football Club. He is now back playing for East Fremantle Courtney Johns Football Club in a full-forward role. .

Wearing the number 21 Guernsey, he plays full-forward and occasional back, seen as a power forward due to his Saint Johns, Ohio strong build, height, ability to take a strong mark and inflict damage. Johns was recruited by Essendon from East Fremantle (WAFL) playing in the Courtney Johns reserves, until a career threatening fractured labrum in his draft year (2002 rookie draft) which kept him from the playing field for over two years. He was elevated to senior level in 2005, and ranked as the second fastest Bomber over 20m in pre-season testing. Was easily spotted on the field Courtney Johns by his trademark blonde dreadlocks, which he shaved off mid-season and now sports short back and sides. He suffered an injury (ribs) after the Round 14 game against Fremantle Football Club, where he showed good signs in his best game for the club up until that stage - booting 3 goals and taking 7 marks. When he made his return in Round 19, he continued to show good signs with another 3 goal haul against Collingwood, helping to result in Essendon s third win for the season. Round 20 against Hawthorn saw him kick no goals and have little impact as in previous games that season.

The injury left doubts that he would ever run again, let alone play football. He had several surgeries to remove floating bone fragments from his distraught left hip, prolonged rehabilitation and a modified training regime to make an apparent full recovery. He made up for it to some extent by kicking a goal against Richmond in Round 21.

He played 21 games, and Essendon won just 3 of those games. During the season he injured his ACL (Knee) in a VFL match for the Bendigo Bombers against Port Melbourne at TEAC Oval, ending his season.

The Bombers last game for the season was against the Western Bulldogs, though they had nothing to play for except a win, Essendon fought hard and Johns kicked his last goal for the season. In Round 4 Johns first match for the season he did not make much of an impact but in his second on Anzac Day he booted two crucial goals, one from the boundary and on the edge of the fifty metre arc, the other straight in front beyond fifty. 2008 was Johns final season with Essendon, during which he played in just 2 games.