Has Johnson jumped the gun?
Is Shaun Johnson leaving the Warriors or isn’t he? It doesn’t actually matter. What’s important here is that the club holds the whip hand. The Warriors have told their highly paid halfback he’s free to explore other NRL, and maybe Super League, options if he can find them. Off-contract after the 2019 season, Johnson’s been informed an extension isn’t a formality and, if one does eventuate, it would likely be at a sum well below the seven-figure salary he currently commands.
He’s now taken to social media to say there is ‘‘no contract’’ for him to sign post2019. That was the situation prior to Johnson taking to Facebook on Monday, so no actual update.
There’s a report the Warriors still plan to meet Johnson, but haven’t till now because of his commitments in England with the Kiwis.
The he-said, she-said stuff is not that significant anyway. What’s noteworthy is the club’s original position remains, which is that Johnson doesn’t have a job for life at the Warriors, nor a divine right to earn a fortune.
For too long the club has tolerated inconsistency and allowed star players to perform when and if the situation suited them.
That began to change when wing Manu Vatuvei was finally pensioned off last year. Since then we’ve seen, among other things, the Warriors play hardball with enigmatic hooker Issac Luke over a contract extension and now tell Johnson he’s free to test the market.
It remains to be seen how attractive the halfback remains. Good on his day, his track record suggests he’s not the player you can build a title-winning team around. That’s a problem for Johnson, because he’s on – and presumably still fancies – the type of money players such as Cameron Smith, Cooper Cronk and Johnathan Thurston have commanded.
For a long time Johnson traded off his 2014 Golden Boot Award, which was said to indicate he was the best player in the world. Well, the most recent winner is some bloke called Tommy Makinson, so we can probably stop holding that up as an achievement.
That’s for Johnson to worry about as he contemplates the chance to ‘‘spread my wings’’ and see what’s out there. That might turn out to be joining St Helens’ Makinson in the Super League, where Johnson could remain mercurial and maybe still command a high salary.
The thing you come back to here is the club the Warriors are becoming under chief executive Cameron George and coach Stephen Kearney. They’re bringing respect to an outfit that’s had fairly disreputable history, talking sense, setting high standards and hiring quality people.
Recruitment officer Peter O’Sullivan and strength and conditioning coach Alex Corvo have proven records of achievement, while general manager of football Brian Smith is as astute as anyone in the game.
Whether Johnson stays or Johnson goes, the Warriors are becoming the kind of club you can have faith in. It’s not often you have been able to say that.