Monday Buzz: Shaun Johnson produces poor Sharks showing as Jahrome Hughes stars for Melbourne Storm
Shaun Johnson is on big money at the Sharks, but the Kiwi star appears to have no interest in playing at Cronulla after a shocker on the weekend.
This is the tale of two Kiwi NRL halfbacks,
Shaun Johnson and
Jahrome Hughes.
One played like he didn’t care over the weekend, the other was incredibly brilliant.
Johnson had ONE run, FOUR metres and NINE missed tackles for the
Cronulla Sharks against Canberra.
Hughes had EIGHT runs, 131 metres and ZERO missed tackles as
Melbourne thumped Newcastle.
It is such an interesting analysis when comparing their careers and current form.
Johnson is one of the most naturally gifted footballers I have ever seen. An absolute excitement machine when he turns it on and born to be a rugby league star.
Hughes has had to work much harder to get where he is.
A reject from the Gold Coast Titans and North Queensland after one game at each club.
Storm found him playing fullback for the Cowboys’ feeder club, the Townsville Blackhawks, and signed him on minimum wage as an understudy to fullback for Billy Slater in 2017.
After back surgery, he eventually made it to halfback as Cooper Cronk’s long-term replacement and is now just a shade behind Nathan Cleary as the best No.7 in the NRL.
Seriously, he’s that good.
A magnificent running halfback who, alongside Cameron Munster, has engineered the Storm’s extraordinary run of 14 straight wins and 632 points – the most scored for a team after 17 games in rugby league history. Saturday was the 11th time they’ve cracked 40 points this season.
Johnson’s Cronulla team, on the other hand, have been inconsistent all year.
They are still in finals contention but really needed to beat the Canberra Raiders in such a winnable game.
Some of their players are making huge sacrifices.
Veteran centre Will Chambers drove from Melbourne to beat the Victorian border closure, leaving behind his wife, children and newborn baby.
Aaron Woods left his partner the day after she gave birth to their second child, a little girl, in Hurstville Private. They both desperately want to play finals football.
If Johnson and some of his teammates (they missed 49 tackles all up) could show a third of that commitment, the Sharks would be more of a genuine contender.
It could be seen as harsh to single out one player in a side that missed nearly 50 tackles.
However Johnson is their
highest-paid player and this isn’t the first time he has gone missing.
On Saturday he looked totally disinterested. Like a player who has his
contract sorted for next year at the Warriors and no longer really cares about the Sharks.
His performance against the Raiders showed exactly why he was never part of
Craig Fitzgibbon’s plans when he takes over as head coach next year.
Caretaker coach Josh Hannay has some decisions to make in coming weeks.
Does he stick with Johnson and the others who aren’t putting in and don’t seem to care?
Or does he find some hungry footballers who are prepared to wear the jersey with a bit of pride.
