Johnson's stats 2016 & 17'
http://commentaryboxsports.com/australian/nrl/johnsons-stats-provide-smackdown-daley.html
As a solution to the Warriors’ woes, ex-Raiders legend Laurie Daley called for Shaun Johnson to be benched or dropped altogether on
NRL 360.
What a ridiculous suggestion.
Genuine consistency has never been Johnson’s long suit, but he is not even in the conversation of the biggest problems with the Warriors so far this season.
The No.7 was head and shoulders above his struggling teammates on Sunday against the Dragons, making a line-break, running for 122 metres, laying on their only second-half try, and generally being at the centre of anything that looked remotely dangerous.
In four games this season, Johnson has two tries (equal 1st amongst halfbacks), three line-breaks (1st), three try-assists (equal 3rd), 11 tackle-breaks (4th) and is averaging 95.8 metres (2nd) and 16.3 tackles (equal 6th) a game – all while playing behind a pack that’s getting monstered every week.
All that despite playing in a team with a disrupted and out-of-form spine, and a backline that can’t run the right lines or catch the ball to capitalise on the opportunities he’s creating.
There’s a number of Warriors who could do with a stint in reserve grade.
Johnson isn’t one of them.
Johnson has been an easy target for years, and was considered by many to have had a poor year in 2016, with criticism that he “didn’t run enough” at the heart of the largely misguided rhetoric.
The Warriors talisman finished the year with 10 tries (2nd for halfbacks), 15 line-breaks (1st), 18 try assists (4th), 62 tackle breaks (1st), and an average of 67.1 running metres (3rd). He also finished third in the NRL for line dropouts forced.
If those aren’t the numbers of a player that is doing more than his share to lift his erratic team that lays a platform for him sporadically at best, then rugby league statistics are officially redundant.
