sj.png

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
  13. 2024
College/s
Orewa College
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
Retired
Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaun_Johnson
Rugby League Project
https://www.rugbyleagueproject.org/players/shaun-johnson/summary.html
NZWarriors.com
Oh damn. Yeah that's a crazy close name. Just read that above article

Unsure when that clothing brand originated but "YouKnow media" seems to be riding on the coat tails of Johns brand tbh 😂
Johns company known as YKTR - I know it stands for “You Know the Rules” but its branded as YKTR. And their sports content is under the YKTR Sports banner.

The guy who runs You Know clothing is close with the boys who used to be in Mai Fm and they started their podcast web show The Morning Shift last year under their media umbrella, which was an alternative to the morning radio shows without the ads and filtered content.

As someone else posted it was made known earlier this year SJ would jump on board in some capacity which we see come to fruition now. SJ has been on their show previously and is close friends with one of the hosts Brook.

This new sports oriented podcast builds off the platform built with The Morning Shift. Brook is a former pro basketball player, and Matua Marc who produces their shows comes from the Sports broadcasting background too. They often talk sports throughout the week and I’m actually looking forward to their yarns with this spin off podcast.

They probably drew inspiration from Johns brand, but the hosts also took a risk leaving a platform like Mai Fm (although might not have been a choice per say) to almost go against them through a different approach to radio. And from it they’ve made it a top podcast, have sponsors on board and deliver decent content.

And now they have SJ on board. Good on them.
 
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Johns company known as YKTR - I know it stands for “You Know the Rules” but its branded as YKTR. And their sports content is under the YKTR Sports banner.

The guy who runs You Know clothing is close with the boys who used to be in Mai Fm and they started their podcast web show The Morning Shift last year under their media umbrella, which was an alternative to the morning radio shows without the ads and filtered content.

As someone else posted it was made known earlier this year SJ would jump on board in some capacity which we see come to fruition now. SJ has been on their show previously and is close friends with one of the hosts Brook.

This new sports oriented podcast builds off the platform built with The Morning Shift. Brook is a former pro basketball player, and Matua Marc who produces their shows comes from the Sports broadcasting background too. They often talk sports throughout the week and I’m actually looking forward to their yarns with this spin off podcast.

They probably drew inspiration from Johns brand, but the hosts also took a risk leaving a platform like Mai Fm (although might not have been a choice per say) to almost go against them through a different approach to radio. And from it they’ve made it a top podcast, have sponsors on board and deliver decent content.

And now they have SJ on board. Good on them.
This new job of Shauns is fine but what does it mean.
Does or can he still find time to train and play?
Nobody has mentioned anything regards that.
Am I talking sense or not?
 
This new job of Shauns is fine but what does it mean.
Does or can he still find time to train and play?
Nobody has mentioned anything regards that.
Am I talking sense or not?
Im sure those things are considered before decisions are made.
 
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The first episode of SJ's podcast has now dropped, some quotes here-

Re: Injury

Matua Mark (Producer of the show, MC at Mount Smart):
"How does that take place that conversation, is it you going to management and saying guys you know what I have been going through time to take a knee here or is them saying hey dude we've got promising halves pairing who have won in the past, how did that happen?"

Shaun:
"Well to be fair they were probably going to drop my ass anyway. After I toss that up they probably, bro, this bloke is out"

"It was at a point where I knew- The relationship I have with Andrew Webster our coach is one like I've never had, like with any of the coaches. One of pure trust, transparency and supreme confidence that he has got my back."

"After the Titans game it was as simple as I went to him and I said to him 'I cannot do this anymore' and he looked at me and nodded the head [sic] in agreeance because he knew exactly what I was feeling and also he's got games of football to win, and at that point in time Im not the best option, at that level I am playing at, and that's a tough pill to swallow because In my mind I know what I can do but when you can't back in up physically it's so tough to swallow, and after that game, it was a rock bottom snap where it's like, bro, you are kidding yourself if you think you belong in this arena right now, you are letting you teammates down, you are letting yourself down. I actually approached the coaching staff, but it was met with agreeance. it wasn't met with anything like they aren't trying to convince me to keep going it was like yep 100%, and we will do whatever we can to make sure you can get on top of this"

Also said the decision was with him going out on the Achilles early in the first place, and the injury got to the point where he was having difficulty getting around his house/going up and down the stairs.



Re: Webby

"In terms of character, and that's the real sign of it, a great coach, that is why I said it last year, you believe in the systems you put in place are so strong that no individual is bigger than that system. and he has been tested time and time. he got tested, in the scheme of things [sic], pretty lightly last year, you know we had a really good year, things were clicking we were all healthy, we were loving it, boom that flowed. This year, the way he has rolled with the punches but upheld what he believes wins us football games and driven them even harder in those times is probably, to me, just cements what I already thought of the guy.

"You know he is going to have a long, successful coaching career, One, he is a great person; Two, he is very firm and very clear on what wins football games, sometimes in a long season of NRL you can sometimes lose sight or take maybe things for granted, and maybe it takes a few losses or a performance you didn't see coming like getting beat by 60 to really just bring you back and dive in and circle in on what you know wins footy games. So he has handled this period tremendously, I think, you know, the way he has rallied the troops and backed up those senior players, the likes of Mitch Barnett, Dylan Walker, Te Maire Martin coming in and just playing out of his skin, doing his job, then Chanel, just people stepping up, and that's what we are about"



Re: Halves pairing and being a teammate

Shaun:
"It will always be nothing but support and love for any of my teammates and in a space where I hope, how do I say this right, I hope that they feel that, because I have been in environments where senior players have been on the out or have had an injury and I guess have not been included in a lot of things-"

Brooke Ruscoe (Co-Host, Former Tall Black and Mai FM Host):
"You can feel the energy."

Shaun:
"The energy shifts dramatically, the impact it can have on younger players coming through. It can become really toxic, really quick, so I have had some good examples of what it shouldn't look like. And I just want to be the best possible teammate for them, like always an open book if they have got questions, now Te Maire is playing better than I have all year so he ain't asking me shit, I mean he ain't asking me nothing, you know like I'm going to have to to the bro, say hey can you come help me out.

"It has to be that open door, and we work like- in preseason, we all work together, and we play scenarios out 'Shaun you are out, T you are middle service' [sic], 'Chanel you're left edge', Chanel you're middle service, T you are on the right-"

Brooke:
"You forget about Luke Met as well"

"Luke, you're on ball, you know, like we have a system, we all work to better each other but to understand how the team is best going to play as one, that's still the messaging. Just because I am out injured, I still want to be there as best I can and help where I can without sort of overstepping and trying to make it about me when it's not- Step back and let the boys get to work"

Mark:
"Let's make this about you Shaun, just for a moment. Have you always been that type of person, or has this come with a fine wine, of age, that you see the importance of being able to share knowledge and have you had to learn that, or is that something you have always been"

Shaun:
"I'm probably not the right person to ask whether that has always been me but I have found through other leaders I have had in the past, the type of leader I have always wanted to be, I have had some really good examples, and I have had some poor examples, and I think to best answer that question ultimately I think as a person, so forget me as an athlete, I remember Butch saying to me when I first came into first grade, the greatest gift you can give someone is your time, and I will never, ever forget that, and I think regardless of whether I am in the Warriors building, or if I am out, I just think that is probably my nature, just to give people time.

"I often get asked if a kid comes up and asks for a photo of me if you're out at dinner and someone comes to ask. There is a manner to ask, don't get me wrong, but does that ever get annoying? I have never found that annoying; I have found it a privilege. I've always been like; I remember when the shoe was on the other foot, and the difference and the impact something like this could make on would've made on me, and could potentially make on the little kid or even the dad who's pretending the photo is for his daughter, its probably all I can say on that Matua, I can't say it has always been me, but what has always been me is being open and giving people my time, and in the building, in where I work and what I do every day when I'm a senior player, and I do have runs on the board and knowledge I have accumulated over a career of work if someone wants to know, I will answer it but I will never force it or blurt it onto someone."



Re: Retirement/Extending

I can't keep transcribing this entire thing, so listen to the podcast for full details haha

The gist of it is that he is as torn as he has ever been, he feels uneasy about not knowing what will happen next year, but there are conversations ongoing. Paraphrasing, while he doesn't want to come off as arrogant, he still thinks he is the best option for the Warriors at 7 when he is healthy, and until that changes then he is going to keep being torn on it. Winning a prem with us is the only thing he needs to tick off, but at the same time, he enjoys not being in pain moving around his house, playing with his kids, etc.

He also confirms the Roosters offered him a deal, but doubles down for the millionth time that it is the Warriors or retirement.
 
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Why do coaches play injured players? I just don’t get it. Surely a fully fit player who is slightly green is still better than bloke who is completely broken. It’s a pysically sport for fuck sake.
I had questions around this too. I mean, I get every player is playing with some form of injury but I can't understand and still haven't seen an answer that has any kind of merit as to why SJ was bought back for the Storm game and then subsequently the Titans game - it sounds like his achilles was still an issue (which isn't a surprise with them taking a long time to get right) With all of Webster's strong points that he has there appears to be a fundamental issue here, particularly considering how the team was going prior to the Storm game.
 
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I had questions around this too. I mean, I get every player is playing with some form of injury but I can't understand and still haven't seen an answer that has any kind of merit as to why SJ was bought back for the Storm game and then subsequently the Titans game. With all of Webster's strong points that he has there appears to be a fundamental issue here, particularly considering how the team was going prior to the Storm game

AW has a bit to answer here. He’s also tarnished Tohus reputation a bit by playing him injured and compromising his performance and letting people question his commitment.

Sure, players wanna play but if they’re completely buggered a coach has to help them out a bit. Maybe that’s Webbys way of letting them down softly - here go play and fuck your self up so you come to me yourself wanting out.
 
This is the year where the coaches took gambles and lost most of them, playing busted players, 2 backs on the bench, Roger at centre

Shaun's answers kinda confirmed his condition/form was kinda a problem in the Titan/Storm game, some were saying it's all on the pack/attitude etc nothing to do with thim, but even he admitted he felt the coaches were gonna drop him, the halves energy/form can affect the team, I think he missed half the tackles or something in the Titans game.
 
Why do coaches play injured players? I just don’t get it. Surely a fully fit player who is slightly green is still better than bloke who is completely broken. It’s a pysically sport for fuck sake.

By the end of the season a huge percentage of squads are managing niggles etc. This is just inevitable, and part of the balance a coach/medical team needs to weigh up.

If it is hampering their ability to perform a core role then that is an issue, and I think Webby has been learning a thing or two about that this year.
 
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AW has a bit to answer here. He’s also tarnished Tohus reputation a bit by playing him injured and compromising his performance and letting people question his commitment.

Sure, players wanna play but if they’re completely buggered a coach has to help them out a bit. Maybe that’s Webbys way of letting them down softly - here go play and fuck your self up so you come to me yourself wanting out.
Webby coming from penrith, that's probably just the way he's used to- mannering mentioned that cleary just expected his players to play injured and respected that. There was talk nathan cleary came back too early leading to him re-doing his hammy this year so it's a risk, but they have 3 premierships to show for it...
Obviously, the staff will be getting advice from the medical team too.
Everyone is carrying injuries at this time of year so it's a bit of a balancing act but fair to say that they would probably do things different if they had their time again.
 
Penrith has different set of weather and temperature to NZ, players got 1 year older and the low temperature got the older players, extra stiff, probably, JFH keep warm next winter!
 
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Man I feel that some are being a bit harsh on Webby.

Last year, everything went right for him. As a coach I think he had a lot to do with that, but also I think we had like 11 or 12 players have career best years, which would have helped immensely.

This year we've not had much luck with injuries and form (and a few did calls along the way), but also I really do think that every team has aimed up against us. We've had no easy games which has resulted in our players being quite knackered.

Webby's not without fault - he's struggled with his bench immensely imo, and hasn't been able to get the balance right this year. He's also moved players around more than he did last year, and struggled to bring in youth when needed. Very few rookie coaches are able to replicate back to back to back years of strong performances. I'm happy that even tho things have been so disappointing for us this year we're still a good chance to make the finals - he's instilled a lot positives in to this club and at the end of the day, we'd probably all be singing his praises right now if a couple of those one percenters went out way (Coates try in the corner, Bulldogs missed TMM call, first Titans game this year).

I think he'll lead us to the promised land. It's just not very likely it's gunna be this year
 
I get the sense from listening to him talk about it, that it is leaning towards retirement at this stage and he is trying to grapple with that, or he is trying to fight against it

Might be a bit of Stockholm syndrome, but I do hope he plays on lol, and we can try to follow the Panther's script

In 2019, the Panthers had started having the core of their dynasty debuting and getting some sporadic PT. Had a poor start to the year, but did wind up making a late push only to just miss out (could sound familiar in a month or so time)
2020, they had more of a mix of the youth, but there was an equal mix of more experienced guys like Tamou, Whare, Mansour, Tetevano
2021, it was all in on the next era, barring a few vets like Api and Capewell

Seems like a good plan to me! Dreams are free haha
 
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Man I feel that some are being a bit harsh on Webby.

Last year, everything went right for him. As a coach I think he had a lot to do with that, but also I think we had like 11 or 12 players have career best years, which would have helped immensely.

This year we've not had much luck with injuries and form (and a few did calls along the way), but also I really do think that every team has aimed up against us. We've had no easy games which has resulted in our players being quite knackered.

Webby's not without fault - he's struggled with his bench immensely imo, and hasn't been able to get the balance right this year. He's also moved players around more than he did last year, and struggled to bring in youth when needed. Very few rookie coaches are able to replicate back to back to back years of strong performances. I'm happy that even tho things have been so disappointing for us this year we're still a good chance to make the finals - he's instilled a lot positives in to this club and at the end of the day, we'd probably all be singing his praises right now if a couple of those one percenters went out way (Coates try in the corner, Bulldogs missed TMM call, first Titans game this year).

I think he'll lead us to the promised land. It's just not very likely it's gunna be this year
I just think his scope to become a great coach in the long run is huge! He too has as you all say here "a high ceiling".
 

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