Magic gone from Johnson as Warriors’
He was the guy with the blinding speed, the wowing steps, the outrageous tries and the unbridled confidence.
He was the star player the Warriors needed in the halves. He was the man who could lead the club to a maiden NRL premiership after playing in the grand final in his first season in the top grade.
Now, seven years later, in his first taste of finals footy since, Shaun Johnson is the guy who gets mowed down on a breakaway, the halfback who has so few touches of the ball on attack, the experienced campaigner who can’t send lastplay kicks to a good spot and who was altogether outplayed by Penrith halves James Maloney and Nathan Cleary, as the Panthers claimed a 27-12 elimination final victory in Sydney on Saturday.
It was a not so happy 28th birthday for Johnson yesterday. Come cake-slicing time it might have been that his best possible wish was that he’s still wanted at the Warriors come the end of his contract in 2019.
When Johnson re-signed on a two-year deal in 2017, he was the club’s first million-dollar man. But that’s proving about as much value for money as an Auckland house deposit.
While great strides were made this year just to get the Warriors back to the playoffs, coach Stephen Kearney should now be having headaches about the halfback position for a club still searching for its first title, 24 seasons after joining the fray.
It now must be considered that Johnson, after 162 firstgrade games, isn’t the answer if the Warriors want to go all the way.
Because there were games this season where his biggest magic seemed to be a quality