Footy great lands four-figure payout after winning long-shot bet that was tipped by NRL legend Matty Johns

Footy great Bryan Fletcher has reportedly landed himself a big chunk of money after taking a punt on the Newcastle Knights this weekend.

After this weekend’s Magic Round, the Fox Sports presenter is set to walk away from The Suncorp Stadium with his pockets brimming, after winning $7,500, according to NewsCorp’s Phil Rothfield.

The 51-year-old, who played for both the Roosters and Rabbitohs before joining up with Wigan to play in the Super League, is understood to have been given a tip by his old pal Matty Johns.

Johns said that 21-year-old five-eighth, Fletcher Sharpe, would dot down three times in the Knight’s game against the Rabbitohs.

And things got off to a great start for Fletcher, with Sharpe crossing the whitewash twice in the first eight minutes of the match, in what was a prolific start for the Knights.

Newcastle would go on to keep Wayne Bennett’s side scoreless in the first half, with Sharpe dotting down once more in the 61st minute to wrap up the 30-4 win.

Footy great Bryan Fletcher (pictured) has reportedly won a $7,500 bet after backing the Newcastle Knights to win and Fletcher Sharpe to score a hat-trick 

The footy great (right) is understood to have been tipped by his great mate Matty Johns (left) 

And things got off to a great start for the ex-South Sydney star, with Fletcher Sharpe (pictured) crossing the whitewash twice in the first eight minutes of the match

Fletcher, reportedly, had followed Johns’ advice and backed the 21-year-old to score a hat-trick which was also combined with a Newcastle win.

Fletcher lumped $50 on the bet at a price of $150, banking himself a nice profit of $7,500.

After a solid start to the season, the Rabbitohs have slumped to suffer four defeats on the bounce.

And Souths boss Bennett did not hold back on his appraisal of the Bunnies, following their 22-point drubbing, claiming his side needed to play like first-grade players.

‘Not very good,’ he said on the side’s defeat.

‘I don’t want to go into a lot of detail about it, but the start was poor, 18 points down pretty early. After that, we weren’t too bad.’

While the Rabbitohs are down several key first-grade players due to injury, Bennett was keen not to use their absences as an excuse.

‘If we use that as an excuse, we’re not going to get any better. That’s a fact,’ Bennett said.

Meanwhile, Wayne Bennett has blasted his Sydney Rabbitohs team following their dismal performance against the Knights 

‘We’re just going to have to live with that, and we can do better than we did today.

‘I don’t want my players to use it as an excuse. 

‘They all get well paid, they all think they want to be first-graders, well they’ve got to play like first-graders, simple as that.’

He added that his side ‘needed to fix their attitude’.