Career

Early career

Johnson was born and raised in Wangaratta, Victoria. He played junior football with the Wangaratta Football Club, before moving onto the Murray Bushrangers in the TAC Cup. He was selected by Geelong with pick 24 in the 2001 AFL Draft. His first few years were plagued with inconsistency, injury and off field problems. A medium-sized forward, Johnson is renowned for his freakish ability on the field, where he has consistently wowed fans with his penchant for extraordinary goals. As a child, Steve was a natural left footer.

2007

Johnson was suspended by his club for the first five matches of the 2007 season after he was arrested for public drunkenness in Wangaratta on 24 December 2006 - a charge which was later dropped. He returned in Round 6 against Richmond where he went on to contribute 21 possessions and two goals in a match Geelong won by 157 points. He went on to post career-best numbers across the board, capped off by All-Australian selection on the half-forward flank in September.

His 2007 season was capped off when Johnson lead the Cats to victory in the Grand Final, collecting a premiership medallion, and winning the Norm Smith Medal for best on ground in the Grand Final. Johnson was hailed as a feel good story for the year, with a good example of a player reforming after disciplinary action.

2008

Early in 2008 however, Johnson lost his drivers' license and was sentenced to 50 hours working with the TAC after he was clocked in over 70 km/h over the speed limit in a 50 zone. Teammate Shannon Byrnes was in the car at the time.

He had yet another stellar season in 2008, kicking 49 home-and-away season goals and earning a spot on the forward flank in the All-Australian team of 2008. He gathered 34 disposals in the Cats' Grand Final loss to Hawthorn.

2009

In the 2009 AFL season, he played 18 matches and kicked 40 goals, finishing tenth in the Geelong best and fairest award. He was a member of the Cats 2009 Premiership winning team.

2011

In 2011, 'Stevie Wonder', struggled to consistently produce the captivating form that had won him All Australian selection in previous years. He was still a force though, gaining recognition by being honored in the initial All-Australian squad of 40. His season nearly came to an abrupt end, when during the third quarter of the Preliminary Final between Geelong and West Coast, he appeared to sustain a serious injury to his left knee. Racing against the clock in order to gain fitness for the Grand Final against the Magpies, it was heavily speculated that Johnson would be unable to gain full fitness in time. For almost the entire week, whilst his team-mates trained in the spotlight, Stevey J spent time up in Melbourne in a Hyperbaric Chamber. Fortunately for himself and Geelong fans, Johnson was able to gain fitness needed and played a vital part in the cats win over the Pies. He went on to kick 4 goals amongst 14 possessions, thus claiming his third premiership medallion.

2016

In October 2015, Johnson signed a one-year contract with Greater Western Sydney. In his first match against his old club in Round 2, Johnson kicked two goals as his new club won by 13 points.

Statistics

Statistics are correct to the end of the 2015 season.

Legend
G	Goals	B	Behinds	K	Kicks	H	Handballs	D	Disposals	M	Marks	T	Tackles

Season	Team	#	Games	G	B	K	H	D	M	T	G	B	K	H	D	M	T
		Totals								Averages (per game)
2002	Geelong	20	12	16	12	101	50	151	40	28	1.3	1.0	8.4	4.2	12.6	3.3	2.3
2003	Geelong	20	15	23	12	122	49	171	54	29	1.5	0.8	8.1	3.3	11.4	3.6	1.9
2004	Geelong	20	13	21	19	143	54	197	58	31	1.6	1.5	11.0	4.2	15.2	4.5	2.4
2005	Geelong	20	12	18	15	129	51	180	59	19	1.5	1.3	10.8	4.3	15.0	4.9	1.6
2006	Geelong	20	15	30	13	139	60	199	70	22	2.0	0.9	9.3	4.0	13.3	4.7	1.5
2007	Geelong	20	20	49	33	286	86	372	144	44	2.5	1.7	14.3	4.3	18.6	7.2	2.2
2008	Geelong	20	25	53	31	333	174	507	147	65	2.1	1.2	13.3	7.0	20.3	5.9	2.6
2009	Geelong	20	18	40	38	255	103	358	112	44	2.2	2.1	14.2	5.7	19.9	6.2	2.4
2010	Geelong	20	22	63	36	274	136	410	131	50	2.9	1.6	12.5	6.2	18.6	6.0	2.3
2011	Geelong	20	23	50	37	319	195	514	143	84	2.2	1.6	13.9	8.5	22.3	6.2	3.7
2012	Geelong	20	21	19	17	299	166	465	117	94	0.9	0.8	14.2	7.9	22.1	5.6	4.5
2013	Geelong	20	19	23	23	315	231	546	108	87	1.2	1.2	16.6	12.2	28.7	5.7	4.6
2014	Geelong	20	18	17	14	265	199	464	92	94	0.9	0.8	14.7	11.1	25.8	5.1	5.2
2015	Geelong	20	20	30	25	256	156	412	99	46	1.5	1.3	12.8	7.8	20.6	5.0	2.3
Career			253	452	325	3236	1710	4946	1374	738	1.8	1.3	12.8	6.8	19.6	5.4	2.9

Career highlights

AFL

• AFL Premiership Player (2007, 2009,2011)
• Norm Smith Medal (2007)
• All-Australian (2007-2008, 2010)

Geelong

• VFL Premiership Player (2002)
• Geelong Reserves Best First Year Player (2002)

TAC Cup

• All-Australian U/18 (2001)
• Vic Country U/18 (2001)

[ Source: Wikipedia ]