With these last two wins against all odds, does SJ on $700k start to look a bit less appealing? Been great bang for buck on his previous contract but does the pay bump seem less of a good deal for the Warriors? Not doubting he’s a great player but if injuries mean you’re limited training all the time, is that good for the team? Was happening last season too
Shaun Johnson is an ageing plane that will eventually run out of runway, it does not matter how deep your love of the bloke is, there is in the future, a point coming where the time space continuum ages this blokes body beyond a level where you should be paying him to play for you.
My dream is that he ends up being a Terry Lamb figure (one of the longest serving players in competition history).
So my concerns around
SJ are less about what he earns and more about hoping the Warriors know when he is done.
Which is why I was relieved when they put him on annual contract extensions.
More importantly the last two games with
TMM at seven have proved that we have a future post
SJ that the club should be chasing.
TMM should be the guy now, and
SJ the spare part old Vet they use to insulate the new line up. I say that while agreeing
SJ is still a special player, but that won't and cannot last forever, it should be now used as an Ace in the hole while the Club sets up a different halfback, the future halfback, in his stead.
Every great NRL club since Wayne Bennett sacked Alan Langer has transitioned someone else into the shoes of a club legend before it was forced upon them.
Langer btw came back from being fired to win the SOO. Which is why we should keep
SJ around till he is a cripple.