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Player Shaun Johnson

Date of Birth
Sep 9, 1990
Birth Location
Auckland, New Zealand
Nationality
  1. 🇳🇿 New Zealand
Height (cm)
179 cm
Weight (kg)
92 kg
Position/s
  1. Five-Eighth
  2. Halfback
Nickname
Princess
Forum Nickname/s
SJ
Warrior #
168
NRL Debut Date
Jun 4, 2011
NRL Debut Details
NRL 2011, Round 13, Sydney City Roosters
Warriors Debut Date
Jun 4, 2011
Warriors Debut Details
NRL 2011, Round 13, Sydney City Roosters
Warriors Years Active
  1. 2009
  2. 2010
  3. 2011
  4. 2012
  5. 2013
  6. 2014
  7. 2015
  8. 2016
  9. 2017
  10. 2018
  11. 2022
  12. 2023
Signed To
Cronulla Sharks (2019-21)
Signed From
Hibiscus Coast Raiders
Junior Club/s
Hibiscus Coast Raiders
Previous Club/s
Cronulla Sharks (2019-21)
Current Club
NZ Warriors
Rep Honours
  1. NZ
  2. World/NRL All Stars
Awards/Honours
  1. Warriors Player of the Year
  2. Golden Boot
  3. Dally M (Positional Award)
  4. RLPA Players Champion
Status
Active
Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaun_Johnson
Rugby League Project
https://www.rugbyleagueproject.org/players/shaun-johnson/summary.html

Play on: Shaun Johnson has no plans to retire at end of upcoming NRL season

Shaun Johnson is humbled he’s been compared to fellow halfback Benji Marshall many times throughout his career.

It’s not just with how he plays, but he also has the potential to follow the former Kiwis star by playing well into his 30s.

Marshall hung up his boots at the age of 36 in 2021, Johnson is 33. Like Marshall, he has been able to find a new lease of life in his career and feels this might not be his final season in the NRL.

“I can see myself playing beyond this year,” Johnson said.

“With how I’m feeling right now, there’s no bit of what I’m doing that makes me wonder why I’m doing this.

“There are always going to be frustrations with niggles, but the love for the sport, the love for competing and the feeling that you’re working with your team-mates, is still very much there.

“Whether I do, I’m not sure, but I definitely see myself [continuing].”

Marshall’s career almost came to an abrupt end in 2017, when he was 32.

He had nowhere to go after leaving the Dragons, and if it wasn’t for a phone call with Wayne Bennett, who invited him to come to the Broncos, that probably would have been it for him.

However, he went on to play another 91 NRL games and get an emotional recall to the Kiwis.

At the beginning of every season Marshall played after joining the Broncos, then Wests Tigers and the Rabbitohs, there was the feeling it could be his last, but because of how he adapted his game, from being a finisher to a creator, he remained a hugely valuable asset. Ditto Johnson.

“There have always been those similarities with Benji and it makes me feel honoured to be mentioned alongside his name,” Johnson said.

“But as you get older and your body slows down, so does your mind and that’s the bit you can’t teach a young half. That’s through experiences.

“That’s what I’m fortunate enough to have at the moment, there is that bit of calmness to my team-mates in the heat of things.

“What I love giving is clarity in the middle of chaos. It’s like I feel like I’m at that level where I can do that mentally.

“I may not be able to run the length [of the field] any more, or step people, but the style of footy I’m playing is one that helps my team-mates get around a lot more.”

Expectations are high about the Warriors’ prospects this season. Some players try to ignore that because they don’t want to get caught up in it. Johnson is taking a different approach.

“You enjoy it, you absorb it,” he said.

“We haven’t had that here for big parts of my career and it’s important you celebrate and really absorb it when you’ve got it, because it’s special and we can use it in our favour.

"I don’t think you shy away from it. You bask in it, knowing you’ve got a job to do, but you don’t ignore it, that’s for sure.”

This will be Johnson’s 14th year in the NRL and it will be on the back of a memorable season for him and the club.

During his first stint at the Warriors, before going to the Sharks for a couple of years, he endured many tough moments and was often the player who copped the most criticism when things didn’t go well.

He also had a tough first year back at the club in 2022, with the team based in Australia due to Covid and it was only because the Tigers were so abysmal that they avoided the wooden spoon.

But it’s those tough times that made last year all the more special for Johnson. Being there for some of the club’s lowest moments has helped him enjoy the better ones even more.

“Collectively, as a team, but then personally as well and being consistent in my actions every day and it leading to consistent performances on the field.

Having my family here to celebrate every step of it with me, engaging with the fans and feeling the respect from my team-mates, I’m proud of it all.

“Like what I said about the crowd, I’m not going to mask over it. I’m going to celebrate those moments, while I’m still in them. I think that’s important.

“There’s still a lot of improvement in me, a lot of things that I didn’t get right. So that hunger to succeed, compete and win is there more than ever, after getting a little taste of it last year.”

“I’m certainly very proud with how last year played out,” he said.
 
If he plays like last year again this year and manages to push through again next year, it is a hell of a turnaround for his career. His time here before he left was filled of great highlights but we never had the game manager. Now we get the leader guiding us around the field, getting guys across the line via set plays.

The last year of the pandemic when we were stuck in Australia he looked past it.

It looked like he had played a year too long. I point that out quite a lot that year and I have never been more happy to be proven wrong. He was a good example of how much being away from their families affected them. Having young children would have been tough.

If he does end up deciding this year is it. I hope he goes out on a high. He deserves it.
 
My boy had a couple of friends stay over last weekend for his birthday and when I walked in they were watching sj highlights on utube. I reckon I've seen them 20 times already but every time u watch them again it just blows you away. I reckon he's got the greatest highlight package of all time- easily...
 
The last year of the pandemic when we were stuck in Australia he looked past it.

It looked like he had played a year too long. I point that out quite a lot that year and I have never been more happy to be proven wrong. He was a good example of how much being away from their families affected them. Having young children would have been tough.

I was the same, and let's face it he couldn't even pass the ball so they were logical conclusions.

SJ will already be remembered as a Kiwi great I reckon but he's not far off from legend status if he continues this way
 
My boy had a couple of friends stay over last weekend for his birthday and when I walked in they were watching sj highlights on utube. I reckon I've seen them 20 times already but every time u watch them again it just blows you away. I reckon he's got the greatest highlight package of all time- easily...
Johnson, Inglis, Lomu and Milner-Skudder are my go to’s after a long day.
 
Johnson, Inglis, Lomu and Milner-Skudder are my go to’s after a long day.

The Inglis highlight reels are like my comfort food. Just such a specimen.

There's a video of all Benjis 2005 tries on youtube thats insane too.

And to think it doesn't even include the Sharks assist where he stepped four dudes off his left foot then threw a 20 metre no look pass or the famous GF try assist.

He was a freak that year.
 
The Inglis highlight reels are like my comfort food. Just such a specimen.

There's a video of all Benjis 2005 tries on youtube thats insane too.

And to think it doesn't even include the Sharks assist where he stepped four dudes off his left foot then threw a 20 metre no look pass or the famous GF try assist.

He was a freak that year.
Ohhh and of course RTS! Just does things you won’t see again. To me once in a generation player! That step can’t be replicated.
 
My boy had a couple of friends stay over last weekend for his birthday and when I walked in they were watching sj highlights on utube. I reckon I've seen them 20 times already but every time u watch them again it just blows you away. I reckon he's got the greatest highlight package of all time- easily...
RTS and Jarryd Hayne's highlights are pretty awesome too
 

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