Johnson works miracle, silences critics
He’s obviously got all the skills sets; he’s got a quality kicking game and steers the guys around the park.
For the second straight week Shaun Johnson has silenced his critics with a sensational performance, worthy of the holder of the Golden Boot award.
Johnson scored a miraculous try in the last minute against the Sharks in Cronulla on Saturday night to steer the Warriors to a 20-16 win.
His great escape came six days after he inspired the Kiwis to a 26-12 win in the Anzac test in Brisbane. And after spending the early part of this season copping it from pundits for being out of form, Johnson has again demonstrated that he’s up there with the world’s best players.
‘‘He can create something out of not much and that’s the main time when you want him to bring that stuff out,’’ Warriors captain Simon Mannering said of the charge Johnson made at the end of the game against the Sharks, where he beat five players with his run.
‘‘He’s obviously got all the skills sets; he’s got a quality kicking game and steers the guys around the park.
‘‘That’s 90 per cent of his job and when you need him to bring out something special, that’s handy.’’
Warriors McFadden coach felt
Andrew Johnson’s performances have been lifting for the past month. He wasn’t surprised at how the halfback played in the Anzac test, but thought it might have been tough for him to back up that effort.
‘‘He has been really solid for us, it was always going to be tough to back up after that Kiwis test,’’ he said.
‘‘His main job is to get the team around the park and do the solid things, we’re trying to build a solid performance in him, he did that.
‘‘Our kicking game was there for most of the game, it’s those moments where he’s got to stand up and he did that.’’
The first 72 minutes at Remondis Stadium were easily forgettable, but the match came to life when Solomone Kata broke the 10-10 deadlock with a try after reaching a piercing kick from Johnson.
But it looked like the Sharks had stolen the victory back three minutes later thanks to a solo try from Andrew Fifita, only for Johnson to produce one of the more magical moments of his already illustrious career two minutes later.
Winger Jonathan Wright, who scored a try in the first half, said it was a victory he hopes will inspire the Warriors throughout the middle part of the season.
‘‘We want to build off Wright said.
‘‘We had some great moments in the game where the boys had some hard efforts and we’ve got to make sure we keep building now.’’
Dramatic as the win was, it did come at a cost. Manu Vatuvei left the game early with a sternum injury and could be out for a few weeks, while Konrad Hurrell will probably cop a suspension for lifting his knee into an Anthony Tupou tackle. Tupou suffered a broken jaw and left the ground in an ambulance.
Simon Mannering on Shaun Johnson
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