Johnson leaving presents an opportunity

Even though he left a few months ago, people are still talking about Shaun Johnson’s departure.

I can understand that. Shaun was a big part of the Warriors for a long time and is a great footy player.

At the same time, player movement is the nature of professional sport, especially in this day and age.

Shaun moving to Cronulla was a shock at first, but everyone needs to move on. He made a decision to move out of his comfort zone and looks happy at the Sharks. We all wish him the best, except when he plays us.

The positive is that an opportunity has now presented itself for someone to make the position their own.

It also put the onus on our entire group to work together when games are on the line, rather than waiting on one guy to make a big play.

For me personally, things aren’t going to change a whole lot.

My job is to get the team to the right parts of the field, kick well to control the momentum of the game and get the footy to our boys at the right time to allow them to do their thing.

As one of the organisers in our side, I know other teams will be looking to shut down my time and space with the ball, especially in the first few weeks.

That doesn’t worry me — we have structures in place at the Warriors which vary depending on where the pressure comes from.

Adam Keighran comes into the side today alongside me in the halves.

He has a really strong running game and is a natural left footer which gives us balance with our kicking game. That is something we haven’t had before and will be a strength for us, being able to kick both sides of the ruck.

Adam is a great kid and has settled in really well. He will grow into his role as he continues getting game time — hopefully with the experience we have around him, he will be able to settle quickly and play his natural game. That’s all he needs to do, we aren’t putting any pressure on him to do anything but what he has done to get to this point.

As a team, I feel as though we are in better shape physically than we were 12 months ago. It has helped having a better base to handle the Alex Corvo pre-season this time around.

We also have a better understanding of how we want to play and what is going to suit us. Everyone is really looking forward to the footy starting after a long off-season.

Today is only the second time in the past decade that we have started a campaign at Mt Smart and it will be extra special in the retro jerseys, celebrating our 25th anniversary.

It’s also going to be a big occasion having our old boys and former captains there, though it will be strange seeing Simon Mannering in a corporate box rather than on the field.

Other teams will be looking to shut down my time and space with the ball.