Norm Smith Medalist Jason Johannisen plans new hair-do for Round 1, focused on Bulldogs 2017 success

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JASON Johannisen has something very special planned for Round 1 — and that’s not even taking into account what he’s plotting on-field.

The electric platinum locks of the reigning Norm Smith Medallist are currently styled in honour of New York Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr but are in for a reboot as the Bulldogs prepare their assault on a premiership defence.

Not that he’s giving any hints away about what to expect.

“I can’t, because it definitely would give it away, but look out for it,” Johannisen said.

“I just love watching (Beckham) play so I decided I could sort of pull it off and went for it. It’s looking good at the minute.

“I might change it up before Round 1 — I have something special in mind.”

Johannisen is out of contract at the end of this season and is expected to draw plenty of interest in the wake of his stellar premiership showing, but said he doesn’t want to go anywhere with talks set to ramp up shortly to keep him at the kennel.

The former Sandgroper declared he wants to be nowhere but the Dogs, with Melbourne winning his fashion-forward heart.

The 24-year-old gathered 33 disposals and took seven marks in his blistering performance on Grand Final day, but he believes he may yet escape any extra attention from opposition that may come with the territory this season.

And he could have a man named Bob to thank for that.

“It may happen, it may not. I can’t really dwell on it,” Johannisen said.

“I just have to — in every training session — try to improve on my skills. With Robert Murphy coming back, it’s going to allow me to get a bit more freed up because opposition should be worried about him as well. I think we have a lot of weapons in our backline, so opposition teams are going to find it hard just to nail down one person.

“Bob’s back and (Matt) Suckling is fighting-fit … it’s going to be a pretty different look than our Grand Final team. We’re just looking forward to it and can’t wait for Round 1.”

The Grand Final and subsequent drought-breaking win is a distant memory, Johannisen says.

The Bulldogs’ Round 1 clash with Collingwood brings a fresh start with plenty of fresh faces — including former Magpie Travis Cloke who is on track to face his former side straight off the bat.

“We definitely have tried to push (the win) away,” the star midfielder said.

“It comes up here and there, but it’s 2017 now — it’s a completely new season. We’ve got a lot of fresh faces. It’s going to be a different look for us this year and we’re trying to evolve our game and improve in all areas of our footy. We’re just looking forward to playing.”

As for where the medal has ended up, Johannisen — who also spent time this week training the next generation of Little Athletics stars in his role as a Jetstar Big Hero — admitted he didn’t know if he could be trusted with the piece of history.

“I didn’t know what to do with it, so I pretty much gave everything from the Grand Final to my parents,” he said.

“I think they would appreciate it more than I will — I’d probably lose it.

“They made all the sacrifices pretty much, when I was growing up as a junior and taking me to training and that sort of stuff. They deserve it more than I do.

“They have this cabinet where I have all my trophies, they’ve just popped it in the middle.”