Defence
Time for some highlights….
Shaun johnson- probably has the greatest highlights package of any player ever..
Simon mannering- pretty impressive for a player more renowned for his defensive prowess- in fact he scored 63 tries only one behind johnson and forth on our all time try scorers list!
Stacey jones- strangely doesn’t seem to have a highlights packagee as such but found this legends of league piece on the lil general
Shaun johnson- probably has the greatest highlights package of any player ever..
Simon mannering- pretty impressive for a player more renowned for his defensive prowess- in fact he scored 63 tries only one behind johnson and forth on our all time try scorers list!
Stacey jones- strangely doesn’t seem to have a highlights packagee as such but found this legends of league piece on the lil general
TheMorningEmu
I am really glad Shaun Johnson made it this far. He gets so much shit that I really wasn't sure if the votes would fall in his favour.
Other than these 3, Im not sure if anyone is truly deserving of being in the conversation for the best ever Warrior.
Cleary leaving after 2011, and Shaun Johnson leaving after 2018 are the only two things that keep me up at night wondering what could have been..
Other than these 3, Im not sure if anyone is truly deserving of being in the conversation for the best ever Warrior.
Cleary leaving after 2011, and Shaun Johnson leaving after 2018 are the only two things that keep me up at night wondering what could have been..
Blackdot
Contributor
For mine the real "what if" moment with Shaun Johnson was that ankle injury against Manly in late 2015. He had a few ups and downs from 2011-2014, but I thought he was showing some major growth and domination towards the end of the 2015 season. When he scored that try I remember like it was yesterday thinking "oh damn, yup Shaun Johnson has reached the next level, fuck yes". The way he was taking the line on was magic. Then as soon as I saw the replay of the injury my heart sank and I something clicked in my head that he would never reach that level again, it's the sickest feeling I've ever had from seeing an injury.
Defence
Yeah he was unstoppable around that time.
That would be a hip drop these days- lengthy suspension.
Canonball
Shaun Johnson's outside step is (was?...) really a thing of beauty for me - so difficult to time and accelerate at the moment the defender commits, when he pulls it off it's perfect
AlexM
Yeah 100% hip drop
Let's hope Webby gets him taking on the line like we all know he can
Boats n Hoes
Geez you forget or take for granted just how potent his ability to beat players actually was........especially when u see some of the absolute legends he stood up in those highlights.
That outside swerve he put on Greg Inglis in that Kiwis game that beat him all ends up is the stuff he'll tell his grandchildren.
Cronk was like a deer in headlights with that dummy and show n go in that semi final against the Storm.
Another one not in those highlights but probably my favourite Shaun Johnson try ever is against the Storm where in the space of about 15 metres beats possibly the greatest defender of all time Cameron Smith with a left foot step that made him look like a statue, then in the same movement puts an outside swerve on Cameron Munster that leaves him grasping at air to score.
Somewhere else there's one of him beating Tedesco in a footrace.......pre injury he would have to be the fastest halfback ive seen in my time.
In saying that tho i had to vote him out here, was too inconsistent to be considered in the Mannering and Stacey realms imo.......however im not surprised by that as the Warriors as an outfit since Cleary left we're inconsistent. What often gets forgotten is Shaun Johnson had 5 coaches in his first 6 years (i doubt any other halfback coming into grade had to deal with that).......its little wonder it took a long time for all the other facets of his game to develop.
But yes, im also glad to see he's made it through this far. For the longest time before he left for the Sharks he was basically the face of the game in this country. And an articulate positive face at that......and like Stacey and Mannering, no hint of dickhead off field shenanigans.
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Agree with all of that… however the inconsistent thing - there aren’t many players with Johnson’s attributes that could ever be described as consistent. Was there anyone in the history of the game that was consistent at doing that sort of stuff? Perhaps he didn’t adapt his game as well as some other players as he got older, but geez I’m also not sure if anyone else had his ceiling. Thurston, Benji are two that spring to mind, however Thurston in particular was a much more structured (and obviously better) player.
DavidMcKay1974
My favourite Shaun Johnson try ever was against the Sharks. He tore through half the team to score. Then the commentators were left salavating. I still love watching reruns of that try.
mt.wellington
Warriors Orange Peeler
Contributor
My favourite Shaun Johnson try was that solo effort against the Broncos. The array of skills and tricks he used was just unbelievable. That was his 8th NRL game. Is his hat trick against the Raiders still a record? Even Manu scored one that game...
Blackdot
Contributor
Adding to the list of Johnson highlights, another two that standout for me was the try he scored against the Cowboys in his second (?) NRL game where he blitzed them off the scrum, at 2:38 in this video
And also the double field goal to come back against the Raiders in 2018.
And also the double field goal to come back against the Raiders in 2018.
TheMorningEmu
I’m lovin this.
I was going to suggest the next off-season game be a vote on the best ever Warriors try, but watching some of this stuff back, it would be hard enough to make a list to vote from of Shaun Johnson’s best tries alone
I was going to suggest the next off-season game be a vote on the best ever Warriors try, but watching some of this stuff back, it would be hard enough to make a list to vote from of Shaun Johnson’s best tries alone
Wrighty
Simon Mannering strikes me as being a quintessential "players player"
While Johnson is idolised by fans all across England, Australia and New Zealand.
While Johnson is idolised by fans all across England, Australia and New Zealand.
I dunno, I reckon it would be pretty epic. Stacey's try from the '02 GF would be right up there, Faumuina's no-looker, Friend's between the legs.... and then the top 10 would be rounded out by 7 Johnson tries, haha.I’m lovin this.
I was going to suggest the next off-season game be a vote on the best ever Warriors try, but watching some of this stuff back, it would be hard enough to make a list to vote from of Shaun Johnson’s best tries alone
Defence
Yeah I had to vote Johnson out at this stage but… he is the only one of the original 10 players who is still playing and if he could somehow drag this club back into the finals before hanging them up that would be probably be enough in my mind to leap frog the other two tbh.
AlexM
Yeah , I never really ever got to watch Stacey play.
I've seen Shaun Johnson maul teams single handedly for 7 years though...
I've heard so much about Stacey and TBF he sounds like a great player.... but he played in some pretty great teams too so idk...
Defence
Oh yeah jones definitely played behind the better packs- we had the most fearsome forward packs in the competition back then.
TeetsNRL
Defence
I reckon the Paul bros would’ve been dynamite as well.
The warriors- making dumb decisions since 95.
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