Johnson: We had no magic
Johnson says Warriors nearly there but admits some fixes needed after thrashing
Shaun Johnson is adamant the Warriors are not far away from a complete performance but admits there are a multitude of issues to fix. Sunday’s abject display against Cronulla will bring doubts about the Auckland club back to the surface, as they sank to an awful 29-10 defeat against the shorthanded Sharks, who had fullback Will Kennedy sent off in the 16th minute.
Losing to a 12-man team is bad enough but getting completely outplayed is another thing altogether.
“It was disappointing, very frustrating,” Johnson told the Herald.
“We didn’t control the ball when we had the opportunity to, didn’t build pressure and they probably showed us exactly how it should be done, with 12 people.”
It was a bemusing, bizarre watch. In front of a raucous crowd, the undermanned Sharks gradually got more and more belief, while the Warriors regressed as the match went on. They were unable to put Cronulla’s defence under any kind of sustained pressure and lacked the smarts and execution to utilise their numerical advantage.
They were defensively porous, gave up cheap penalties, continued the recent pattern of handling errors and poor ball control and made bad decisions under pressure.
“There are so many parts of our game at the moment — that it’s compounding another part of our game,” said Johnson.
“It is not one thing we have to fix. It is a number of things that will just relieve it and make it a little bit easier for us in the long run. But we have a short turnaround; got to brush it off pretty quick.”
That won’t be easy. After going ahead 10-6 with two quick tries following Kennedy’s dismissal, the Warriors lost direction. They were trapped in their own territory for six successive sets — eventually ceding a try — and the Sharks looked more likely to score again before the break.
The Warriors had a chance to reset at halftime but failed to deliver.
“[The plan was] literally to go out there and get into a grind with them,” said Johnson. “Don’t look for quick solutions. It’s not like we weren’t saying the right things. But then when you are out there, you see the spaces and you push a little pass here and there, it just undoes it all.
“We are [not] too far off in terms of putting together a performance [but] it is certainly frustrating when you are not executing exactly what you are saying.”
To his credit, Johnson wasn’t shirking any responsibility, as the senior member of the Warriors’ spine, admitting his work in possession was well short of the standard required.
The Sharks enjoyed 59 per cent possession, forcing five goal-line drop
We are [not] too far off in terms of putting together a performance [but] it is certainly frustrating when you are not executing exactly what you are saying. Shaun Johnson
outs to one, as Nicho Hynes had the ball on a string. “I don’t think we managed the game well at all,” said Johnson. “Just flustered on last play and it’s not good enough. It’s not good enough when I pride myself on last plays and my kicking game.
“I’m a part of that problem. If your halfback cannot kick the ball [for] seven tackles and can just force a repeat there, it just changes things; not throw the ball to the back rower on last play, ask him to come up with the play, you take it.
“That is me looking at areas that I can improve. If all of us as a team can look at where we can improve, next week should be a good one.”
Johnson cut a dejected figure, with his return to the Shire an unhappy one, after 44 games for Cronulla between 2019-2021, though he dismissed suggestions that this defeat was more painful than the recent 70-10 mauling in Melbourne.
“At least we had a crack, we had effort there. [In] the Storm game we quit at certain stages in that game and I don’t think we did that [on Sunday].
“We played against a good team; there is probably no better team that could play the way they did with 12 people. Fit, smaller middles that can ball play, and two halves playing offthe-cuff footy on the back of it.
“It was impressive how they controlled the ball. There was certainly some lessons there.”