NRL 2018

Nepia

@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).

Paekakboyz

@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.

taniwharugby

@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....

Paekakboyz

@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!

Virgil

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.....

mariner4life

We're really lucky there is no evidence of SJ having a sook and spitting his dummy...

Virgil

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

Virgil

@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...

Sneakdefreak

@canefan said in NRL 2018:

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).

Sneakdefreak

Warriors to make an announcement at 10:45am

kiwiinmelb

You do wonder if he already has a club in mind ,

Clubs and managers are pretty snakey in their negotiations behind the scenes .

rotated

@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.

taniwharugby

SJ goooooooonnnnneeee from Warriors

Virgil

“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?

rotated

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.

taniwharugby

@virgil I think they (Warriors) have handled it poorly.

I am sure they had an idea of what they felt his value was, maybe they shoulda offered him a contract for 2020 and beyond at that value, and if he didnt like it, shop around.

This way is just daft IMO.

Nepia

@virgil said in NRL 2018:

“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.

Paekakboyz

@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!!?

Paekakboyz

@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!

Nepia

@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.

taniwharugby

@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.

Paekakboyz

@nepia should probably have broadened that interpretation 🙂

I see it as dick-lite from the club, but am thinking about how the NRL rolls in general around contracting etc. Personally, even though I do like the guy, his WC tantrum did sour me to this side of his personality.

mariner4life

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!!!

Virgil

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

Nepia

@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.

Virgil

@nepia said in NRL 2018:

@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

Nepia

@virgil said in NRL 2018:

@nepia said in NRL 2018:

@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).

taniwharugby

@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.

Virgil

Can understand why he wants to leave, but he should have sucked it up taken a couple of deep breaths and let it play out
Come out with a statement like he’s always loved playing here doesn’t want to play for another club etc etc
But instead he has a cry on social media like he’s done in the past.

mariner4life

@nepia said in NRL 2018:

@virgil said in NRL 2018:

@nepia said in NRL 2018:

@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).

what do you want them to say? I would have thought that was the exactly right thing to say?

SJ had a contract. The club wanted to move in another direction at the end of the contract. SJ didn't want to see out his contract if he wasn't getting another one, so the Club said "okay, you don't want to play? off you go"

They then came out and said exactly that and they get pilloried for it? In an age when we all whinge about double-speak and half-truths in press conferences? (Nepia your attitude towards the Akira situation and this is interesting).

Pretty much everyone has been open about this, and it's for the best all around. No one is in a position to sook.

I am not sure what they could have done differently? To me this actually makes them look like a professional sporting organisation. Letting your marquee guy go a year early because you think you need to move on is a bold, but professional move.

Nepia

@mariner4life Seriously, what has Akira got to do with this, it's not even close to being analogous?

I'm not a fan of SJ and reckon they should have got rid of him years ago, however the comments by George (which are a bit sooky) in the press conference have pissed off a bunch of Warriors fans. What they could have done differently is not made those comments which pissed off those fans.

mariner4life

@nepia said in NRL 2018:

@mariner4life Seriously, what has Akira got to do with this, it's not even close to being analogous?

I'm not a fan of SJ and reckon they should have got rid of him years ago, however the comments by George (which are a bit sooky) in the press conference have pissed off a bunch of Warriors fans. What they could have done differently is not made those comments which pissed off those fans.

which quotes do you take exception to?

antipodean

Good decision and well handled by the Warriors. SJ is not worth a million pesos. He has a tanty because they don't want to keep paying him more than he's worth? "Don't want to play for us? Don't let the door hit you on the way out".

kiwiinmelb

Apparently he could be at the sharks on a 4 year deal

mariner4life

@kiwiinmelb said in NRL 2018:

Apparently he could be at the sharks on a 4 year deal

I hate that club, everything it stands for, their fuckwit head coach, their germ of a captain, and the collection of grubs and low breeds they have assembled for a roster. I shall booo SJ heartily if he fucks off to the shire.

Given the way they play, Flanagan is going to loooove the way SJ doesn't take the line on, and his inaccurate kicking game.

Bovidae

Some fans are overreacting. SJ is not the Warriors best player and has proven to be a player who is good for the highlight reel but too inconsistent. It's telling that Kearney, his former Kiwis coach, is obviously not that bothered to keep him given the current situation.

raznomore

What should have been said:

"Shaun has been a great servant of Warriors rugby league. Both as a player and role model. We appreciate his need to try new things and he appreciates our needing to try new things. Thank you Shaun and best of luck to you in your future endeavours."

Johnson never got arrested for beating his mrs, drunk driving or public intoxication. Never did anything remotely controversial off the pitch. Fronted school workshops, ran the line at age grade footy and generally got people to games through his obvious marketability and play. That should be applauded and that's not what he got.

I agree with M4L. The warriors need a consistent play maker that does not go into his shell for 50-75% of the season. So while I am disappointed he is not the guy to take us to the ship the best thing for us is for him to leave.

antipodean

@raznomore said in NRL 2018:

Johnson never got arrested for beating his mrs, drunk driving or public intoxication. Never did anything remotely controversial off the pitch. Fronted school workshops, ran the line at age grade footy and generally got people to games through his obvious marketability and play. That should be applauded and that not what he got.

Only in football and particularly league does that have to be applauded.

raznomore

Just a quick question.....could Johnson go to super rugby?

@raznomore I reckon sevens would be more his go..!,much more space..personally I think he would get shut down big time in the Xvs version..a bit like benchie Marshall and that worked well..Not..!