@mariner4life said in NRL 2018:
Makes it even more puzzling that they let Mason Lino leave
Lino isn't good enough to be the starting half for an NRL team. He's barely good enough to play off the bench. His only advantage is price
We don't seem to want to pay. Having said that I'm happy to pass on Shaun
Looking forward to Johnson leaving the club and having a sulk and saying "Yous got your way..."
@taniwharugby said in NRL 2018:
RS reporting SJ has requested an immediate release from his Warriors contract.
Damn, the Warriors will be on the hurried hunt for a half then.
@taniwharugby said in NRL 2018:
RS reporting SJ has requested an immediate release from his Warriors contract.
and how much money off their "cap" did the Roosters just free up with Napa?
Apparently the Warriors have declined the request ... at the moment.
"Jilted Warriors star Shaun Johnson has today requested a release from the final year of his contract with the Auckland NRL club.
The 28-year-old halfback has a year remaining on his current million dollars per season deal but wants out immediately after the Warriors made it clear they are in no rush to re-sign him beyond 2019.
As first reported by the Herald last month, the Warriors informed Johnson and his manager that they would not be moving quickly to offer him a contract extension and that he was free to test his value on the open market.
In an explosive development in a fast-moving story, a disgruntled Johnson met with Warriors boss Cameron George and coach Stephen Kearney this morning and requested an immediate release while he explores options with several rival clubs in Australia.
It's unclear where he might land if he is eventually released but Cronulla are believed to be the early front-runners among a group of at least four clubs willing to bid for his services.
However, Johnson's request has been denied and the Warriors are so far holding firm in insisting that he see out the remainder of his contract.
The Warriors have not ruled out re-signing the mercurial playmaker for 2020 and beyond but concerns over his consistency mean they are unwilling to throw him the amount of cash reserved only for the game's elite players.
Johnson, the club's marquee player and poster boy since his debut back in 2011, has not taken the news well.
Up until now, he has been the club's priority every time his contract has come up for renewal and Johnson now finds himself in unfamiliar territory.
However, much like the club is now doing, he took his time before recommitting and had discussions with rival clubs including the Sydney Roosters.
Warriors CEO Cameron George has told Shaun Johnson to test his value on the open market. Photo / Getty
Warriors CEO Cameron George has told Shaun Johnson to test his value on the open market. Photo / Getty
With a cloud of uncertainty hanging over his future at the Warriors, Johnson is now ready to up and leave rather than stick around and prove his worth and value to the club.
Calls to the Warriors have so far gone unanswered but the ball is now in their court regarding Johnson's future.
If the Warriors do decide to grant him his wish and release Johnson it will send a clear message to fans that the club is not just doing what it's always done in automatically re-signing him.
The news comes after Johnson broke his silence on the matter via an emotional social media post yesterday expressing his frustration at the situation and explaining the impasse meant he was shopping himself around.
"I thought it's best I clear a couple things up regarding my situation at this stage with the Warriors," said Johnson.
"Firstly, there is no contract for me to sign past 2019.
"Secondly if you saw the article that came out a few weeks back [...] they said they are in no rush to re-sign me. Since then they have told me again at this stage they [won't] be offering me anything.
"That means I get to spread my wings and see what's out there so right now that's what I'm doing!"."
@taniwharugby said in NRL 2018:
@nepia yeah think thats gonna be pretty tough to expect him to play well next season if they deny this.
That won’t do his value on the wider market any good if he does phone it in for a(nother) season.
@donsteppa I dont expect any top player to do that, but I'd say there is still a difference between someone giving it thier all while thier heart is in it and giving it thier all for the pay cheque.
@donsteppa said in NRL 2018:
@taniwharugby said in NRL 2018:
@nepia yeah think thats gonna be pretty tough to expect him to play well next season if they deny this.
That won’t do his value on the wider market any good if he does phone it in for a(nother) season.
It depends when he confirms his contract - Maloney had his confirmed with a year to go with the Warriors and he played like Chad Townsend (the Warriors version, not the competition winning one at Cronulla).
@taniwharugby it's almost like being made redundant a year out from your finish date. I just hope he doesn't drop his lip further though. It'd really sour his legacy imo. I dont blame the club for saying no at this stage for 2019. But you can bet they would have for a more consistent player like mannering if in the same scenario. Somewhat easier to find secondrowers than playmakers I guess.
@paekakboyz ha yeah when I was made redundant, the last 4 months were fun...but then my next boss couldnt see how hard I worked in those last few months, or the fact that I took 20 people out for lunch and beers on my last day before giving back the company credit card....
@taniwharugby not that it's fair but players do this to clubs all the time. SJ will def find a club, but the more interesting bit is who the warriors will get in!
Hopefully SJ isnt forced to stick around when he doesnt want to and provides the Warriors with a half arsed effort, only occasionally playing well.. Fading in and out of games, disappearing when the pressure is on....oh.....
Its unlikely we can find a better player then SJ but im pretty sure we can find someone good enough who will only cost half as much (at the most). Freeing up more dosh for elsewhere in the squad
@mariner4life said in NRL 2018:
We're really lucky there is no evidence of SJ having a sook and spitting his dummy...
Yous got your way...
Makes it even more puzzling that they let Mason Lino leave
It is strange that the club didn't let Mason know that they were considering moving on from SJ. He may not be a starter but you need a backup halfback in the NRL today and he proved he could do that.
Not surprised that SJ has now requested a release and not surprised the Warriors are holding firm. They did this with Ata Hingano last season (you can only go once we have your replacement signed). With so much cap space freed up they can target players from other clubs who are up against the cap too. No doubt their number one target is Kodi Nikorima who is free to talk with other clubs and won't get a big deal in Brisbane since Anthony Milford and Jack Bird took most of that salary cap space (plus have two highly touted prospects coming up through the ranks).
You do wonder if he already has a club in mind ,
Clubs and managers are pretty snakey in their negotiations behind the scenes .
@kiwiinmelb said in NRL 2018:
You do wonder if he already has a club in mind ,
Well, Widdop asked for a release - so not hard to connect the dots. The Dragons love signing former marquee players.
“Yous... “ yeah you know the rest.
What a sook, not sure what else the warriors could have done better other than waited til he was back in nz from the kiwi tour before announcing they weren’t in a hurry to re-sign him?
Pretty average comments from George there in the release. Don't see how you can trash Johnson for not wanting to play for the Warriors next year after they already flagged they were ending the relationship. Not a good look.
“Yous... “ yeah you know the rest.
What a sook, not sure what else the warriors could have done better other than waited til he was back in nz from the kiwi tour before announcing they weren’t in a hurry to re-sign him?
I'm with @rotated @taniwharugby on this one, if they're going to say they don't want a player, as part of their new 'tough' management style, then of course that player is going to want to piss off somewhere else.
@virgil I really value what he brought to the Warriors, and holy shit when he was on fire he was electric. But I think we can safely say (without being a dick) that he is fragile and never developed the resilience that would have truly made him one of the greats.
We saw that impact on his consistency, and lack of ability to stamp his authority on a game week in, week out. Let alone across seasons. Really sucks that his 'legacy' will be a bit tainted by his exit - but he's playing a role in that, whether you think he's being hard-done by the club or not. I don't blame him about fronting up about not wanting to play 2019 at the Warriors, but it feels like SJ is too quick to go to the emotional side of things, forgetting he's in a sports entertainment business that ultimately has to be bigger than any one player.
I hope the change in club helps him to kick on to big things. I will be moderately salty if he suddenly becomes the tough, bossy player we've always hoped for. Let alone if he wins a premiership in 2019!!
oh, and all that bullshit about the club being carnts by having negotiations underway while SJ was in the UK can eat a bag of dicks. FFS do you even NRL bro!!?
@taniwharugby biggest boo boo is not reading that SJ would react this way - or that delaying an immediate release does make them look a bit behind the eight ball, or like dicks in the eyes of hardcore SJ fans. From a club perspective I'd have hoped they had some solid options in the mix before pushing the eject SJ button. I guess we'll see how that goes!
@paekakboyz said in NRL 2018:
@taniwharugby biggest boo boo is not reading that SJ would react this way - or that delaying an immediate release does make them look a bit behind the eight ball, or like dicks in the eyes of hardcore SJ fans. From a club perspective I'd have hoped they had some solid options in the mix before pushing the eject SJ button. I guess we'll see how that goes!
I'm a non princess fan and they look like dicks to me.
@paekakboyz yep, IMO this way has been handled like a bunch of amateurs...kinda like they expected him to just go, oh yeah sweet, I'll take a 60% pay cut to stay here, chur!
I think if they had offered him a contract they felt reflected his value to the club beyond 2019 it woulda been much smoother ride...but this way seems like they wanted to retain him, and thought he'd bend over and be sweet, instead, he called thier bluff.
Someone is going to throw an awful lot of money on him. Someone's fans are going to be left awfully frustrated.
By SJ, cheers for some pretty sweet memories/highlights. But this was absolutely the right call if the Warriors want to step up.
Replacement half and a prop or two thanks. And not fucking Corey Norman!!!
Not sure the club could do anything and not look bad.
If they had offered a much reduced contract instead of passing him off to other offers he would have likely sulked as well. He would have posted online how the club insulted his worth and loyalty to the club with a stupid pay cut
Ultimately If he played as well as he was paid this would never had happen.
Not like the Cowboys ever had doubts over JT or The Storm with Cronk ( until the very end)
Johnson needs to look at himself and realise he’s brought it on himself
@virgil All they had to do was be a bit magnanimous at the press conference for the announcement and they come out looking a million times better than what they do now.
Disagree
They are a club that wants to win a premiership. They realised the million per year they pay SJ is likely better spent elsewhere to achieve that.
They probably also don’t know what his true worth is, hence the shop around abs see what other clubs are willing to pay you.
The only one that had a moan and went public was SJ
@virgil All they had to do was be a bit magnanimous at the press conference for the announcement and they come out looking a million times better than what they do now.
Disagree
They are a club that wants to win a premiership. They realised the million per year they pay SJ is likely better spent elsewhere to achieve that.
They probably also don’t know what his true worth is, hence the shop around abs see what other clubs are willing to pay you.
The only one that had a moan and went public was SJ
I don't see how any of that means they can't be a bit magnanimous at the press conference? Some of the die hard fans are doing their nut about how the press conference was handled (while the media seem to be firmly in the Warriors camp).
@virgil see I didnt take it that way.
The way it looks like it played out was they want SJ on the roster, but dont want to pay him $1mill....fair enough.
I expect they knew exactly how much they wanted to pay him, offer that...I am sure if SJ is honest he knows he hasnt performed to his potential.
I do agree with you, Warriors damned if they do, damned if they dont, but in saying that, maybe hold yourself to a much higher more professional standard rather than a rabble they look like in this instance.
SJ has always been an emotional fella, so surely the Warriors should have forseen this kind of reaction? They hadnt offered him a contract, so to him, they dont want him, so why would he want to play for a team who dont want him?
As someone on the radio this morning said, he does need to develop a bit of a thicker skin when it comes to social media though.