Shaun

[Beavers Headgear]

Do any players, staff etc come out and bag old clubs?
Most know it's a small pond and who is going to hire the person that bagged out their last place of employment?

The ones low on brain cells do, come on down Joey Leilua

 

[JJ]

If he had Brett Kenny's ticker, he'd be near on an Immortal.

he doesn't have the game Kenny had either - Kenny and Sterling should be near on immortals... never sure why they are on the periphery of that discussion

 

[Manu Vatuvei]

.Johnson hasn't had elite-level talent since his injury in 2015. Yes he could have performed a lot better than he has since then regardless, but from 2016 onwards he no longer had lightning speed and footwork and his ceiling as a player dropped dramatically.

 

[Penrose Warrior]

.Johnson hasn't had elite-level talent since his injury in 2015. Yes he could have performed a lot better than he has since then regardless, but from 2016 onwards he no longer had lightning speed and footwork and his ceiling as a player dropped dramatically.

The issue is, he always relied on his elite level talent before that. So when he did slow down and injuries did hit, he hadn't future proofed his career. Far too big on ego and not enough on advancing himself as a player, leaves us where we are now.

Honestly, he shouldn't play again for this side. We've seen enough. He isn't the future, and Volkman might be.

 

[Rich102]

I have a long memory. Shaun was a fast-track specialist from his junior days. Behind the dominant pack be played behind in the U20's he was near unstoppable, but always gun shy. Now he is behind a average to poor pack he is close to useless. Problem is you can't train the fear out of him.
Time he went for his own reputation and the good of the team.

 

[JJ]

.Johnson hasn't had elite-level talent since his injury in 2015. Yes he could have performed a lot better than he has since then regardless, but from 2016 onwards he no longer had lightning speed and footwork and his ceiling as a player dropped dramatically.

Which is where the comparison with Kenny ends - he lost his lightening acceleration and speed following a serious knee issue (as I recall) but found a way to continue being elite

Shaun is one of the big what if's....

 

[Manu Vatuvei]

Which is where the comparison with Kenny ends - he lost his lightening acceleration and speed following a serious knee issue (as I recall) but found a way to continue being elite

Shaun is one of the big what if's....

I mean, the comparison never even begins tbf because even young SJ was never a consistently good performer.

I do however think that the late 2014 - late 2015 version was a freakish talent who was performing at a pretty high level. Unfortunately that was as good as it ever got as far as him being an elite player and not just a guy with elite attributes.

SJ is a what if in the sense that he could have lit the competition up between 2011-2015 if he had the ticker to match his talent. 2016 onwards I basically just think he was a reasonably talented player, being mistaken for the super talented player he had once been, underperforming.

 

[SpaceMonkey]

Correct me if I’m wrong on this but at the Sharks he had pretty much transitioned successfully to a distributing/playmaking half, not many classic highlight reel moments but his stats for try assists were some of the best in the comp. I’m still of the opinion he has plenty to offer in the right structure and mindset. But being at the Warriors with the constant expectation that he is supposed to be the miracle man isn’t it. Which sucks because I also think it’s pretty clear that this is the club he wants to be at, but it just doesn’t seem to fit him at this point.

 

[Manu Vatuvei]

Correct me if I’m wrong on this but at the Sharks he had pretty much transitioned successfully to a distributing/playmaking half, not many classic highlight reel moments but his stats for try assists were some of the best in the comp.

Yes and no. I think overall Sharks fans wouldn't look at his time their particularly fondly (only playing 44 games in 3 seasons didn't help). I think 2020 was probably the only season where he went pretty well. He was up there for try assists until he was injured, I think mostly because his short kicking game was going pretty well.

I still don't think that version of SJ is a particularly good player or ever really nailed the role though. He's always had the ability to offer a good short kicking game and sporadically throw a money ball in the opposition 20. Nevertheless the overall package of no running game, an average long kicking game, minimal attacking threat outside the opposition 20, and terrible defence, is pretty "mid" as the kids say these days.

 

[Benek]

I don't think anyone is expecting SJ to be a miracle man. Personally, I'm just expecting him to have more than one dimension (the lazy shovel pass) and keep the defence guessing by straightening up into the line sometimes. His inability to run / avoidance of contact / poor defence are all related issues that are holding him back from being any good right now. The loss of his blinding speed and fancy footwork have nothing to do with why he's playing poorly at the moment.

 

[WellsNZ]

I have a small hope that Stacey has the balls to do the right thing by the club and boot him to reserves. But it's a small hope only.

This season is finished, the club is f**ked. We need to look to the future. Blood Volkman now in these meaningless games.

And if SJ wants to maintain a career any further in the NRL, kicking his ass to reserves to illustrate that isn't a guarantee is the best thing for him also.

 

[SpaceMonkey]

Yes and no. I think overall Sharks fans wouldn't look at his time their particularly fondly (only playing 44 games in 3 seasons didn't help). I think 2020 was probably the only season where he went pretty well. He was up there for try assists until he was injured, I think mostly because his short kicking game was going pretty well.

I still don't think that version of SJ is a particularly good player or ever really nailed the role though. He's always had the ability to offer a good short kicking game and sporadically throw a money ball in the opposition 20. Nevertheless the overall package of no running game, an average long kicking game, minimal attacking threat outside the opposition 20, and terrible defence, is pretty "mid" as the kids say these days.

I thiv

I have a small hope that Stacey has the balls to do the right thing by the club and boot him to reserves. But it's a small hope only.

This season is finished, the club is f**ked. We need to look to the future. Blood Volkman now in these meaningless games.

And if SJ wants to maintain a career any further in the NRL, kicking his ass to reserves to illustrate that isn't a guarantee is the best thing for him also.

SJ needs to play under a Flanno or Bellamy. Unfortunately I doubt Jones is the guy but he could prove me wrong

 

[Campion]

the thing with Shuan is he doesn't do anything at pace any more. he's a handbreak. only in the first 10-15 mins of the match just been did he accelerate toward the line then pass. Normally he slows down to shovel it off. The top teams do everything at pace.

 

[SpaceMonkey]

the thing with Shuan is he doesn't do anything at pace any more. he's a handbreak. only in the first 10-15 mins of the match just been did he accelerate toward the line then pass. Normally he slows down to shovel it off. The top teams do everything at pace.

The top teams all know exactly what they need to be doing before they do it, so they can do it quickly. We always look like we're getting the ball then thinking about what to do with it.

 

[SpaceMonkey]

The ones low on brain cells do, come on down Joey Leilua

The dumbest footballer never to have worn a Warriors jersey.

 

[Mr Angry]

He won player of the year for the Sharks.

He did.

They hate him still, today he took a back step and left the kicking to Reece.

This was clearly deliberate, I want to see where STACEY!!! takes this.

Worked for 20 minutes, coach has work to do.

 

[BLN2]

Yeah I thought SJ looked slightly better this week, almost because he stayed out of the attack more than usual. I think mentally and physically he's buggered. Arguing with Curren in the back ground of DWZ interview after the match, it looked pretty bitter. If he's not getting on with the team.. He should be moved on.

Volkman, worth a shot. Just don't think a Panthers debut is ideal.

CHT is hardly worthy playing, he's an average/developing solid half who's leaving next season. I'm struggling to see the point of him playing, only the fact we don't have anything better. Bench utility?

Walsh is imploding by overdoing his hand each week. Defence and organization of the defence is not helping the team.

Asi has shown some quality.

Man the spine players are all over the place, add in our leaky edges, no props.. I really hope Stacey starts to change the side up in the coming weeks.

 

[Penrose Warrior]

Which sucks because I also think it’s pretty clear that this is the club he wants to be at, but it just doesn’t seem to fit him at this point.

I'm not seeing much evidence of this, apart from overblown instagram posts after we won a couple of games.

Nothing about his in-game effort says he wants to be there. His defense is deplorable. He isn't up there in missed tackle stats because when our line is breached, a lot of the time he doesn't even lay a hand on someone, or he makes such a woeful effort that others outside him get exposed.

There was the try against the Cows earlier in the year where one of their young forwards scored, and he made no effort on the line to lay a hand on them. He did it again this week with someone. You just see the lack of effort and it stinks.

I just don't see a way back from this. I was the biggest fan of the guy on here, I reckon. But he's stealing a living right now. And he's done that before to us, made all the right noises then failed to back it up in the only place where it counts.

 

[WellsNZ]

So Stacey is now hoping Volkman can "ignite some spark" in SJ lol.

The fact we're hoping a 19 year old on debut who joined the club a month ago can motivate the born and bred, 200 game former international who was so desperate to come back to the club he cares so much about really f**king sums it up for me.

Our last teenage rookie import wanted to come here to learn from the star in his position in RTS, now we've come to this.

 

[Rich102]

SJ looked pretty cooked speaking to the press after the Panthers game. Close to tears.
At the moment he is holding the team back.
Volkman had a pretty good debut and I reckon he might go pretty well with CHT or ASI.