She was met by both the glory of a big roar from the crowd and one of the most epic takedowns by a security guard in pitch-invading history. Public menace or public hero? Whatever you want to call her, she regrets nothing.
In the 72nd minute of the clash between Parramatta and the Gold Coast, Johnson took to the field in the quest to tick that pesky experience off her bucket list.
What could have been a clothed misstep of the spectator’s role, she explained to Tammy Barker & Bodge for Breakfast on Triple M Cairns that she got swept up in the moment, and the roar of the crowd implored her to decide, “I need to take my top off now”, which is of course, the classic response to public praise. Shedding the shirt, Johnson stopped short at her bra because she thought, “that’s a bit far”. Restraint looks different on all of us it seems.
Footage shows Johnson being chased by a few tentative security guards until one security guard brought order back to the sport by tackling her to the ground. Whilst some spectators thought the security guard was a bit heavy-handed, Johnson herself praised him for “doing his job” because she “got everything [she] deserved”. Crediting her upbringing with brothers and a history of playing football, she was well accustomed to being tackled.
Whilst the tackling approach has left people divided, Johnson’s beaming smile as she was escorted off the pitch showed that she was unharmed and stoked with the result.