Johnson blames doubters: ‘Yous got your way’
‘‘Yous got your way.’’
Yeah, yous. You people who don’t rate the New Zealand rugby league team and didn’t believe they would fire a shot at this world cup.
So, after being bundled out 4-2 at the quarterfinal stage by Fiji, it was ‘‘yous’’ that Kiwis halfback Shaun Johnson was thinking of.
‘‘The most disappointing thing for me is that everyone who doubted us – the fans, media – yous got your way,’’ Johnson said after Saturday’s defeat at Westpac Stadium.
If there was a theme during this campaign – and Kiwis coach David Kidwell definitely espoused it at times – it’s that this team were tough, but not smart. That’s a bit of a problem when his expressed desire each week is for ‘‘tough and smart’’ footy.
A lot of the smart bit rests on Johnson, as it does on any halfback. Again in this Fiji match, New Zealand went forward when they got ball, but their last-tackle options and execution out wide let them down.
Beyond the odd moment when fullback Roger Tuivasa-Sheck was able to dazzle from broken play, the Kiwis produced nothing to test Fiji’s defence. Finishing with just a 45th-minute Johnson goal to show for their efforts summed up New Zealand’s attack.
‘‘I don’t think [there was any more we could have done]. Hindsight’s a wonderful thing, but we were competing until the 80th minute trying to win that game tonight and hopefully that’s what everyone saw, because that’s what it felt like out on the field,’’ said Johnson.
Johnson polarises opinion. His best days are definitely amazing, but not as frequent as you’d hope.
He’s in no danger of being dropped at international or club level, though, and endorsed this Kiwis team’s leadership duo to carry on too.
David Kidwell is surely a coach under pressure, while Adam Blair inherited the captaincy once Jesse Bromwich was suspended for his behaviour after the team’s Anzac test loss to Australia in May. But Johnson is ‘‘100 per cent’’ behind Kidwell and Blair.
‘‘Obviously New Zealand rugby league has been under a bit of pressure with how we went at [the] Anzac [test], leading into this campaign, and obviously results didn’t show the hard work that we’ve put in,’’ Johnson said.
‘‘But we are trying to build and create something that’s going to last a lot longer than what we are and those two [Kidwell and Blair] are at the heart of it.
‘‘So while we didn’t get the results ... in terms of building a foundation for the Kiwis going forward, I definitely think we’ve done well.’’