Johnson ‘locked in’ to face JT
David Skipwith
Warriors halfback Shaun Johnson has overcome a groin injury and will start Saturday’s NRL double-header clash against North Queensland at Mt Smart Stadium.
Johnson missed last Saturday’s 30-6 rout of the Sydney Roosters as a precaution after pulling up tight following training early last week, but the 27-year-old ran freely at training yesterday and is looking forward to opposing Cowboys captain Johnathan Thurston as the unbeaten Warriors search for a fifth straight season-opening victory.
“I’m locked in to play,” Johnson said. “It’s feeling good. I got through a bit of work out there. I was able to do some full contact and attack stuff so it was sweet.
“I told [club medical staff] that it felt good throughout the entire week and I did a bit of running on Sunday and it felt better than it did on Friday and it’s got better each day.”
Johnson was pleased with how the side performed in his absence and thrilled for his replacement, back-up halfback Mason Lino, who scored 18 points through a try and seven goals to clinch his first NRL win in his 10th first grade outing.
Johnson was not surprised by Lino’s composed display. “It’s like a circle, where we slot in and out and run plays, so there was no shock there. It didn’t disrupt the group at all.”
The Cowboys will arrive in Auckland today having lost their last three matches, but the Warriors remain wary of the 2015 premiers, who have beaten them in their last four encounters.
Johnson is excited to line up against Thurston and predicts it will take a team effort to limit the former Queensland and Kangaroos’ playmaker’s influence.
“It’s going to take a collective effort to not switch off,” Johnson said. “We know what [Thurston] can do with the footy but if he does it against 17 committed players it’s a lot harder.
“He’s going to have an impact on that game whatever way you want to look at it, so it’s about limiting that impact and having everyone on the same page with how we do that.”
Veteran forward Simon Mannering will also return to make his first appearance of the season after recovering from a shoulder injury suffered in the Warriors’ last pre-season trial in February.
The side’s former captain has been named on the bench and coach Stephen Kearney was remaining coy as to whether he would be injected into the starting line-up.
“[Mannering’s] the club’s most decorated player so I anticipate that he’ll jump into the starting role, whether that’s this week or not you’ll have to come on Saturday,” he said.
“He’s a tough cookie. Simon lives for these situations so I don’t anticipate it being an issue.”
The Warriors strong start to the season has created a lot of interest ahead of their second home game, with 17,000 tickets already sold and a crowd of more than 20,000 expected for the two matches, with Wests Tigers and Melbourne Storm playing the earlier fixture.