League legend delights team

As the Glenora Crazy Bears scored their first try, a special guest was waiting on the sideline ready to pat them on the back.

Warriors half-back, Shaun Johnson, was the official water boy for the under-6 team’s rugby league game against the Hibiscus Coast Raiders on Saturday morning.

Mum-of-two and coach of the Crazy Bears, Cassie Keene, had contacted Johnson via Facebook.

Johnson had posted about wanting to visit a local footy club.

Keene saw her chance and, like Johnson diving over the touch line, was in there to grab his attention.

A week later, Johnson was out on the field at Stanmore Bay Reserve, squirting water into the kids mouths, she said. By coincidence, the Crazy Bears were playing Johnson’s own club team.

‘‘He was super down to earth. He made a point of helping both teams, and was really hands on,’’ Keene said.

Johnson has strong ties to the Hibiscus Coast, having grown up in the area.

He attended Whangaparaoa Primary and later Orewa College where he excelled at sport.

Keene recently signed on to coach the team her two sons play for.

Tayler, five, and Tamali’i, four, are intent on becoming Warriors themselves one day, she said.

The team are just four games into the season but were left without a coach after the first game, so Keene stepped up. Keene said seeing the kids interact with Johnson was ‘‘really great.’’ He stayed behind after the game to chat with the team taking questions and posing for selfies.

‘‘It was not a big star studded affair, he was just a guy who wanted to help the team,’’ Keene said.

A long-time league fan herself, Keene said the Crazy Bears were all dedicated to the team. The boys train every Tuesday and Thursday, and nobody has missed a session yet, she said.

‘‘They’re really enjoying it, it’s all about having fun.’’

Having Johnson along made for a ‘‘great vibe’’, though some of the mums were ‘‘more dolled up than usual,’’ she joked. The kids - and parents - had their Saturday made, Keene said, with the Crazy Bears winning the game, 8-1.

The Warriors hit the field again on April 30, playing the Roosters at Mt Smart.