At 33-years previous Shaun Johnson must be beginning to wind down. His greatest years must be behind him and he must be contemplating retirement.
Instead the New Zealand Warriors celebrity is coming off arguably his greatest 12 months of footy and put retirement on the backburner to re-sign final July as a result of he’s having fun with himself a lot.
There was a time although that he nearly pulled the pin on his profession — a time the place he was in a “really bad” place.
But lastly discovering peace away from the sector, getting a coach that backs him “wholeheartedly” and the motivation to show his largest supporters proper has Johnson smiling once more… and chasing one thing “really special.”
The Warriors shocked the NRL final season, going from a fifteenth place end in 2022 to the highest 4 and a preliminary ultimate underneath the steerage of a rookie head coach.
Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, Addin Fonua-Blake, Dallin Watene-Zelezniak and Wayde Egan have been simply a number of the gamers that joined Johnson in having a career-best season because the ‘Up the Wahs’ motion took the sport by storm.
Speaking to foxsports.com.au Johnson mirrored on his gorgeous 12 months, opened up on the powerful occasions and likewise revealed his plans for the long run — which embody a sure promise if the Warriors win the premiership this season.
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‘IMAGINE IF THAT’S JUST THE BASELINE’
This time final 12 months there have been requires Johnson to retire.
His return to the Warriors after a comparatively unsuccessful three-year stint on the Sharks fell flat and he completed the 2022 season with simply three tries and 14 strive assists in 21 appearances.
After being not noted of New Zealand’s World Cup squad, Johnson returned to pre-season coaching with a cloud over his future.
Fast ahead to September and Johnson was the most popular title within the NRL. In 25 appearances he notched up eight tries, 32 strive assists — his most in a season — and 28 linebreak assists.
His kind steered the Warriors to their first preliminary ultimate since 2011 and he was one level off successful the Dally M medal.
When requested to mirror on his season, Johnson paused for a second earlier than saying: “I played pretty good hey if I’m being honest.”
After a cheeky giggle the veteran halfback dived into what happy him essentially the most.
“I’m proud of myself for a number of reasons,” he begun.
“People are quick to forget the noise that was surrounding me during last pre-season and heading into Round 1 whether I was going to have what it takes to get back to that level and bounce back from the poor season I had the year before — not just me but the whole club in general.
“It’s a lot to deal with, especially if you don’t want to put time into accepting maybe you weren’t at your best.
“So just sort of overcoming those hurdles, training really well, narrowing my focus onto what I can control and then getting out there and playing games the way I was able to and the way we were able to as a team — that’s something I and we are really proud of.
Johnson is “really happy” together with his consistency final season however after realising what he and the group are able to, he’s set the bar even increased.
“I feel like when you get so close to achieving something like winning the comp it just leaves a sour taste in your mouth and you just know that you’re not far off. That’s where I’m at right now,” he mentioned.
“What we showed last season and what I showed last season, imagine if that’s just the baseline. Imagine if that’s not our ceiling, that’s just the floor and we can keep continuing to improve.
“That’s what I’m really looking forward to doing now.”
YOU WIN SOME, YOU LOSE SOME
Was Johnson dudded on the Dally M’s?
That query would’ve come up in nearly each dialog between rugby league followers within the days following the NRL’s evening of nights.
He was tipped by many to assert the honour, however Kalyn Ponga’s kind within the second half of 2023 proved too deadly and the Knights fullback pipped him to it by one level.
“It was cool to be in the room and it was cool to be recognised either way,” Johnson mentioned.
“I’m always for team recognition over individual recognition and the fact that my teammates were celebrated that night as well, to be able to share that with them was really special.
“Would it have been cool to take that top award away? Yeah 100 per cent but that certainly didn’t put a dampener or take off any shine from what I’ve been able to achieve.
“Winning that award wouldn’t mean I had a good or bad season, that’s just the cream on the top if anything.
“Ponga had a great year as well, I can’t argue that.”
Johnson was nevertheless topped the RLPA’s Players’ Champion, becoming a member of a star-studded listing of previous winners that features James Tedesco, Tom Trbojevic, Nathan Cleary and likewise Ponga.
The award is taken into account by some a good larger honour given it’s voted by a participant’s friends.
When requested about that, Johnson fist-pumped however hid his pleasure behind one other joke.
“I think there was only like five people that voted and they might’ve all been my teammates,” he laughed.
“…Nah that was cool to be recognised and celebrated by my peers, even some of the words that opposition teams were saying to me after games, it was cool.”
IT’S NOT ABOUT PROVING PEOPLE WRONG
A whole lot of gamers will let you know criticism and doubt from others fuels them. But Johnson is the alternative.
He had a number of doubters heading into the 2023 season however at no level did he need to exit and show folks incorrect. It was extra necessary to him to show the folks in his nook proper.
“I was content with where I got to at the end of the season where I felt like I didn’t leave a stone unturned. Literally everything I had was put into the season, the finals and I left it all out there,” he mentioned.
“That was a really nice feeling to have so the contentment came from there. But the satisfaction part has not necessarily been about me proving the haters or doubters wrong.
“I took a lot of pride in proving the people that believed in me right.
“I had a lot of support. I had a lot of people in my corner telling me that I’m far from being done and that I’m not that far off, keep my attention to what’s in front of me, train hard, be hungry and go after it.
“When I was able to do that, just being able to look those people in the eye that stood by me, there was no better feeling than that — there really wasn’t. I want to do it all over again.”
Why Fonua-Blake owes Andrew Webster | 01:16
FROM ‘LONELY’ TIMES TO HAVING ‘TOO MUCH’ FUN
There was an actual probability the sport may’ve by no means seen this refreshed model of Johnson.
He discovered himself in “a very lonely place” mid-2022 and he questioned whether or not the non-public “torture” he was going by was price it.
When Johnson was advised by the Sharks he wouldn’t be re-signed past 2021, the Warriors swooped to carry him again to the membership he debuted for method again in 2011.
Johnson and his spouse spent three years dwelling in Australia and had their first child right here in 2020 whereas he was with the Sharks. But when Covid hit and the borders closed they started to battle.
“It was just like we had no support,” he conceded.
That’s why he was “so excited to come home” after signing with the Warriors.
“It was like ‘man, let’s go home, let’s be around our people, let’s get back to being happy away from footy — life happy’,” he mentioned.
But after returning to New Zealand and quaranting, Johnson was dealt some brutal news — the Warriors have been going to be based mostly in Redcliffe for the 2022 season.
“I was like ‘woah, no way this cannot be happening’,” he recalled.
Johnson’s spouse, Kayla, stayed behind as he packed his baggage to relocate as soon as once more and the space shortly started to take a toll.
“I got to a really bad point during the 2022 season where half way through I was living in Brisbane on my own and my wife and daughter were back here in New Zealand,” he mentioned.
“Watching my daughter grow up through FaceTime, it was just torture.
“Then when you’re not playing good footy either and you’re not winning games it becomes a very lonely place.
“At that point it was like ‘this is not worth it, this isn’t why I play the game, this isn’t what anyone should have to do regardless of what job you’re in’.
“So there were certainly retirement thoughts then.”
Johnson pushed by and received the enhance he wanted when the Warriors have been lastly in a position to transfer again residence to New Zealand for good forward of final season.
With one 12 months left on his contract he knew he couldn’t stroll away simply but. After greater than a decade within the NRL, it was solely proper that he went out feeling good.
The plan was to complete up on the finish of 2023, however the factor about that plan is that he then felt too good to stay to it.
“I never wanted to go out on a low, I was always like ‘just give it one last crack, this is your last year let’s just enjoy every moment’,” he shared.
“But then I enjoyed the moment too much and ended up re-signing (for 2024).
“The retirement thoughts were definitely there at some point and they’re always going to be when you get to the part of your career where I’m at… and I’m OK with that.
When asked if he could still be playing at 40 if he’s still having fun, Johnson joked: “If me and you are having this same conversation in a few year’s time you’ll be like ‘dude you’re enjoying it way too much’.”
Johnson was beaming with happiness throughout this interview — identical to he was in most of his interviews all through final season.
He credited his household and coach Andrew Webster for that.
“It’s never one thing that’s just going to make me happy again and it’s never just one thing that makes you sad,” he mentioned.
“Obviously being back home and being able to be a dad. Being able to get home, walk through the door and my daughter runs up to me — stuff like that — and being a husband.
“Then having a coach come in, in ‘Webby’ who just backs you wholeheartedly and you just feel he’s got your back 100 per cent — that’s really important for me.
“He never promised that it was going to be given to me and it was just going to be handed to me on a plate but he told me that if I’m happy and I’m going to work hard then he’s going to back me the whole way.
“They’re just a few of the things that have contributed to me smiling more than not.”
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THE WEBSTER EFFECT
Webster has received “something special,” based on Johnson.
He took over a group that had simply completed second final and spent three years dwelling away from residence to show it a premiership contender all in what was his first season as an NRL head coach.
That’s why he was topped Dally M Coach of the Year final September.
When requested if what Webster achieved stunned him in any respect, Johnson mentioned: “You know what, it didn’t.”
“I can almost give an answer that contradicts itself,” he added.
“I was surprised by how well we did under him in his first year but once we’ve done it, it’s like ‘well no I’m not surprised’.
“Look at how he carries himself, look at the confidence he oozes and just pours into other people and the environment that he’s created.
“I’m not surprised that we got the results we got because he set it all up — it stems from him.
“Maybe there was a little bit of scarring from the poor results we had in previous years that blurred that a little bit but in hindsight once the season was done I was like ‘man this guy’s got something special’ so it wasn’t really a surprise that we played the way we played.”
Johnson, like lots of his Warriors teammates, already had a “strong” relationship with Webster from when he was an assistant on the membership in 2015.
Webster is a personality that went from appreciated to liked after delivering a cracking acceptance speech on the Dally Ms, wherein he thanked “the most beautiful person in the room, my wife.”
He referred to her as “a good sort” and a “champ” after which after getting “the brownie points out of the way” he thanked his gamers.
Besides his apparent sense of humour, Webster has an enormous coronary heart.
“I think he’s an even better person than he is a coach and that’s a really good trait to have as a coach, someone that is so approachable and someone that whose first conversation you have with him every day it isn’t about footy,” Johnson mentioned.
“There’s a genuine care there.
“He knows when it’s time to switch on and we need to rip in but just importantly he knows when it’s time to drop the shoulders, have a laugh and get around each other. He’s got the balance right.”
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What had Fonua-Blake circling the Sharks | 00:57
SAILING OFF INTO THE SUNSET
After 252 NRL video games, with extra to come back, and 32 appearances for New Zealand, what does the long run seem like for Johnson?
“If everything goes well this year and we win the thing you’ll catch me smoking my cigar and I’ll sail off into the sunset — I will not look back,” he laughed.
He is set to win the Warriors’ first premiership and that’s all he’s actually interested by in the intervening time.
“There’s something about this feeling we’ve got within the four walls here that you just want to be a part of.
“We’re chasing something for the first time over here and I’d love to be a part of that, but right now I can’t even think past (now).
“Pre-season is hard… So as long as I’m still happy and hungry to get through a pre-season, then I think you can be happy and hungry to get through a season. So we’ll see.”
In typical Johnson style although, he did end off his reply with one other joke.
“I heard south of France is quite nice to play footy at, the Gold Coast wouldn’t be too bad,” he laughed.
“…But New Zealand is pretty beautiful too so I’m happy right now.”
If the Warriors do win the grand ultimate and the nice occasions are nonetheless rolling for Johnson why not hold taking part in and go for back-to-back premierships?
“That could be someone else, someone else can do that. I want to be a part of the first — you can never, ever take away someone’s first,” he mentioned.
“I don’t know how it’s going to feel when it actually comes time (to retire), but I feel like this next chapter of my life I’m pretty excited about and maybe that’s what’s going to allow me to step into that space a little easier than most may think,” he mentioned.
“But I’ve got some ideas and some things I really want to do that are going to get me out of bed and when that time comes I know I’m going to be pretty ready for it.
“Imagine if the last 13 years have just been the entree to what I’m really going to do in life. This is just setting me up to do something really special post-footy and maybe something a little bit more meaningful.”
Johnson can see himself dabbling in media post-footy, however he additionally likes the thought of specialist teaching.
He doesn’t need to be a head coach, however the considered working with the following technology of halves in New Zealand excites him.
Perhaps he has a future in recruitment too as a result of when requested what recommendation he can provide younger gamers, it was: “If you want to know the answer to that come to New Zealand, work with me, play in the Warriors’ system and we can go places baby.”
Source web site: www.foxsports.com.au
