Hodkinson will join the Knights on a three-year deal from next season after failing to come to terms with Canterbury. The NSW playmaker – part of a three-way Bulldogs halves rotation alongside Josh Reynolds and Moses Mbye – recently secured his future after months of speculation.

By his own admission, Hodkinson's form was modest coming into the State of Origin series and Johns questioned whether he had done enough to retain his place. But the eighth Immortal believes the 26-year-old is capable of making a contribution at his beloved Knights.

"If they get him fit and Jarrod Mullen fit, they could combine really well," Johns told Fairfax Media.

"I think it's a good signing. He can add something to them. I was critical at the start of the year but I don't go off half-cocked to bag people. He wasn't performing to the level I know he can play at and he'd admit that.

"To his credit he fought back and in Origin II I thought he played sensationally. I think he'll do a job up there, he'll go well."

However, Johns reserved judgment on whether Hodkinson had done enough to earn another crack at Queensland. Blues halves Hodkinson and Mitchell Pearce were unable to impose themselves in the Suncorp Stadium decider after the Maroons made the most of their 70 per cent possession rate.

"Who else are you going to put in?" Johns asked. "Adam Reynolds could put some pressure on some guys. They are up against a champion team full of champions, it's going to be pretty tough.

"[Justin] Hodges retires and then [Dane] Gagai comes in. It's ridiculous.

"NSW were pretty disappointing, but full credit to Queensland, they were awesome. That was the best performance I've seen at that level by a team.

"You look at the stats and [NSW] had no ball, which emphasises the difference between the teams.

"Queensland, their [halves] have another two years together. [Cooper] Cronk, [Johnathan] Thurston and [Cameron] Smith will probably play together for another two years. I want to keep crying."

In a mark of how highly he rates the Maroons halves pairing of Cronk and Thurston, Johns labelled them the best representative combination ever to play the game. It is high praise indeed considering his own combinations with Brad Fittler and Darren Lockyer, as well as the Peter Sterling-Brett Kenny and Wally Lewis-Allan Langer pairings.

"In time, we will look at Thurston and Cooper as the best combination we've seen in rep football ever," said Johns, who was named one of the Magnificent 7 halfbacks of the television era at a recent Men of League function.

"What they have done in the last five or six years since Locky [retired] has been amazing. Then there's Daly Cherry-Evans and Ben Hunt. They are all Queenslanders."

Johns is on Manly's payroll as a consultant halves coach but still keeps a keen eye on his former club. The Team of the Century halfback predicted there would be "some heartache" for Newcastle in coming years but believed they could emerge from a difficult period.

"I worry about how they are playing, it's a bit of a mess at the moment. Hopefully they can dig themselves out," he said.

"I'm not involved with them day to day so it's hard for me to comment [on culture]. They have got some young guys coming through in key positions, [Jake] Mamo, Danny Levi. They have to persist with those young guys. There's going to be some heartache in the next two years but it can turn, there are some solid footy players amongst those guys."