William Johnstone (born 15 June 1959) is an Australian former

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

footballer who played for Canterbury-Bankstown,

St. George Saint George (;Geʽez: ጊዮርጊስ, , ka, გიორგი, , , died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was an early Christian martyr who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to holy tradition, he was a soldier in the ...

and the Gold Coast Giants. Johnstone also was a

boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: *Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing * Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom * Boxer crab * Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans * Boxer snipe ee ...

, with 21 wins and 6 losses in 27 bouts.

Playing career

Johnston won the Brisbane Rugby League premiership with Souths in 1981. Johnstone played in the 1982

Brisbane Rugby League The Brisbane Rugby League premiership was a rugby league football competition in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was first held in 1922 and for every year until 1997. The competition was reinstated in Brisbane Rugby League (2001), 2001, kno ...

grand final for Souths against Wynnum-Manly. Johnstone made his first grade debut in the NSWRL competition for Canterbury against the

Illawarra Steelers The Illawarra Steelers are an Australian rugby league football club based in the city of Wollongong, New South Wales. The club competed in Australia's top-level rugby league competition from 1982 until 1998. On 13 December 1980, they were the ...

in round 1 1983 at

Belmore Sports Ground Belmore Sports Ground, formerly known as Belmore Oval, is a multi-purpose stadium in Belmore, New South Wales, Australia. The park covers and from 1951 has contained the Belmore Bowling Recreation Club green. It is close to Belmore railway ...

. Johnstone played in Canterbury's preliminary final loss against Parramatta that year. Johnstone was voted as the Dally M Hooker of the year in 1983. Johnstone played at hooker in Canterbury's 1985 Grand Final victory over St. George. The following season, Johnstone played in the club's preliminary final victory over Balmain but missed the 1986 grand final against Parramatta which Canterbury lost 4–2 at the

Sydney Cricket Ground The Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) is a sports stadium in the Moore Park, New South Wales, Moore Park suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is used for Test cricket, Test, One Day International and Twenty20 cricket, as well as, Australi ...

. In 1987, Johnstone joined St George but only played the one season with them and then signed for the newly admitted Gold Coast team. Johnstone was appointed the inaugural captain of the Gold Coast-Tweed Giants. Johnstone spent 3 years at the Gold Coast which was met with limited success.

Post playing

After retirement, He later became the club's recruitment manager. Johnstone has become a highly regarded Strength and Conditioning Coach in the

NRL The National Rugby League (also known as the NRL Telstra Premiership for sponsorship reasons) is a professional rugby league competition in Oceania which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria (state), Victoria, the Austral ...

. He worked with the

North Queensland Cowboys The North Queensland Cowboys is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Townsville, the largest city in North Queensland. They compete in Australia's premier rugby league competition, the National Rugby League (NRL). Sinc ...

from 2002 to 2006 before moving to the newly established

Gold Coast Titans The Gold Coast Titans are a professional rugby league football club, based on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. The club competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership, Australia's elite rugby league competition. Since 2008, the ...

. The North Queensland club however have again offered Billy a deal he couldn't turn down. In July 2008, he was granted a release from the

and has signed a three-year deal with the

, beginning in 2009. Billy Jonstone also is currently operating as a personal trainer from a local gym in Townsville, Queensland named 'The Zoo Health & Fitness, where he trains intermediate to advanced members and uses his Strength & Conditioning knowledge to good valu

https://web.archive.org/web/20111127183212/http://www.thezoohf.com.au/zoo/staffprofiles.html

Professional Boxing Titles

*Australia - Queensland State middleweight title (156½''Ibs'') *Australia - Queensland State super welterweight title (154''Ibs'')

References

External links

Johnstone @ Titans.com.au
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnstone, Billy 1959 births Living people Australian male boxers Australian rugby league players Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs players Gold Coast Chargers players People from Cunnamulla Rugby league hookers Rugby league players from Queensland Souths Logan Magpies players St. George Dragons players Sportsmen from Queensland 20th-century Australian sportsmen