The Warriors 2024 season has been somewhat of an analogy for Shaun Johnson’s career. Mixed performances that never lived up to expectations.
Johnson’s career will peter out like the Warriors season has, and he will retire a champion player who only ever really achieved his potential sporadically, or wearing a Kiwis jumper.
Johnson is the classic enigma – a complex maverick whose confidence defined his performance. If Johnson played 24 games of each season, then he would potentially have become an immortal. Unfortunately his seasons were regularly blighted by injuries and he was never able to build the form and consistency that we saw him capture in 2023.
Johnson’s recent foray into Pilates, well-being, and fatherhood all seemed to provide an element of perspective and maturity that had eluded him in his younger years when his fragile temperament off the field often left him at odds with fans or management. Despite that, his talent with the ball in hand usually quelled any misgivings. His fractured relationship with the media and social media also contributed to a distancing of himself from the masses. You were often left with the sense that Johnson didn’t respect the media or public, and he viewed their criticisms as ignorant, uneducated, and beneath him. And most of the time that assessment was likely justified. But it also created an air of resentment which meant that when he didn’t play well, everyone who had been in for a penny was now in for a pound – his critics felt emboldened to double down on their opinions forcing Johnson’s walls to grow even higher.
I was always left with the impression that Johnson knew his potential and was frustrated by his inability to turn it into success for the Warriors – all of which was misinterpreted by audiences as sulkiness. And as father time ticked by, his frustration was only exacerbated by injuries contributing to mixed form.
2011 and 2023 will always be a seasons to remember, and while 2024 hasn’t been entirely a fitting farewell, it has shown the Warriors are in good hands. The last win with Johnson playing was round 5. In the games he didn’t play, Te Marie Martin won 5 of 8 and arguably would have won the others had Chanel Harris Tevita done any kicking practice this season. Te Marie isn’t as silky smooth as Johnson has been, yet, but he finds ways to make things happen. And thankfully, he’s just as good-looking – a very important credential.
Shaun Johnson made a grand final and two preliminary finals for the Warriors. His ability to play the game in front of him was paralleled only by the greats of the game. He will be remembered for some great Kiwi wins, and his mercurial and deceptive ball playing that often left elite players looking like amateurs.
One thing is for certain though – we should be grateful to him for some classic moments and memories he gave us.
