A great shame – Lowe

Graham Lowe says the Warriors will pay a heavy price for letting Shaun Johnson go, believing they were to blame for never extracting the best out of the star halfback.

Former Kiwis coach Lowe was incredulous that the Auckland-based club’s prized asset has departed and says it is ‘‘premiership suicide’’ given the status Johnson held, along with his latent ability.

The Warriors had failed to get the best out of a player who boasted enormous talent in his 2011 NRL debut season, Lowe said.

‘‘I compare Shaun Johnson to a Ferrari that’s been sitting in a garage for eight years, and it’s never been taken for a drive,’’ Lowe said.

‘‘The Warriors have never found the right button and it’s a great shame the fans haven’t seen the best from him.’’

Lowe said the whole Johnson affair was an indictment on the club, who he reckoned had blundered earlier by releasing backup option Mason Lino to the Newcastle Knights.

It left the Warriors scrambling for a halfback at short notice and Lowe doesn’t think they’ll get near anyone with Johnson’s quality.

‘‘Who’s out there? I think it’s premiership suicide,’’ he said.

‘‘They were probably not going to win the thing anyway but they’ve lost their best player, by a long way.

‘‘Who’s going to win them matches now?’’