Kearney: No bad blood with SJ
Warriors coach Stephen Kearney says he holds no lingering resentment towards Shaun Johnson following the star playmaker’s abrupt departure from the Auckland club.
Johnson is set to face the Warriors in Wellington tomorrow night for the first time since he was released early from his contract to join the Sharks at the end of last year.
It was a messy split which turned the Warriors’ preparations for 2019 upside down. While rookies Adam Keighran and Chanel Harris-tavita were given the first shot at filling the sizeable void left in the halves, it wasn’t until Kodi Nikorima joined the club from the Broncos in May that the coach settled on a long-term replacement.
Apart from a brief exchange when Kearney visited the Kiwis camp ahead of last month’s test against Tonga, the pair haven’t had any contact since Johnson left.
But Kearney insists there is no bad blood between the pair.
‘‘Not on my part,’’ Kearney said. ‘‘I went and had dinner with them when the Kiwis were here and watched them train a couple of times. We said ‘hello, how are things going’ and exchanged pleasantries then.
‘‘He’s played over 150 games for our footy club and he was an integral part of the club.
‘‘We’ve moved forward and he’s playing for the opposition this weekend. We’ve got a job to do and so does he.’’
Johnson suffered an ankle injury during last week’s loss to the Storm but will start in the No 6 jersey provided he comes through training this week.
As the face of the Warriors for most of his eight seasons at Mt Smart, his return was always going to be the story this week.
However, up against a Sharks side featuring experienced campaigners such as Andrew Fifita, Paul Gallen, Aaron Woods and Matt Moylan, who are desperate to snap a four-game losing streak, the Warriors can’t afford to focus on one player.
And they won’t be.
‘‘If I’m honest, we haven’t had a big focus on Shaun. It’s just about executing the areas that we did really well last week and looking to improve the areas that we weren’t,’’ Kearney said.
‘‘We know the threat that Shaun and – not only Shaun – [Matt] Moylan, those sort of guys present. It’s just making sure that we know our responsibilities and that we execute them well on the night.’’
In a boost for the Warriors, inform winger Ken Maumalo is on track to take the field tomorrow in a game which is critical for both side’s finals chances.
Maumalo left the field due to a head knock during the second half of last week’s draw with the Broncos. He still has a couple of concussion tests to go through but Kearney said he was progressing well.
Centre Peta Hiku also picked up a knee issue in Brisbane but is expected to play. Fellow centre Patrick Herbert (hamstring) and hooker Karl Lawton (shoulder) are likely to come into contention for next week’s trip to Parramatta.
After two golden point matches in three weeks and backto-back trips to Australia, Kearney has managed the training load this week, particularly that of Roger Tuivasa-sheck following his record-setting display against the Broncos.
Of the skipper’s 367-metre effort in the 18-18 draw, Kearney – in his own creative way – described it as a natural progression of the sport.
‘‘It was a Nokia phone back then,’’ the coach said referring to his playing days, ‘‘and they’re a lot better nowadays when you’ve got an iphone that’s got everything on there that you can think of,’’ he quipped.
‘‘It’s always going to improve and obviously Roger is a pretty special talent.’’ Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane 9.50pm Thursday Ben Cummins, Belinda Sharpe Broncos $1.40, Bulldogs $2.95