Shaun Johnson announces retirement; Nathan Cleary rapt with Blaize Talagi signing
New Zealand international and Warriors superstar Shaun Johnson will retire from the NRL at the end of the season.
Johnson, who will turn 34 next month, announced his decision on Monday night – less than 12 months after coming within a whisker of winning the Dally M Medal during the Warriors’ fairytale finals run.
The former Golden Boot winner spurned an offer from the Roosters to finish his career in Australia, and after a year of inconsistent form and injury woes, will hang up the boots as one of the most popular players of his generation.
“This is a decision that I’ve sat with for a while now and one I’m probably still coming to terms with,” Johnson said when speaking with his teammates.
“It’s obviously still very raw, but I’m so grateful to the club and to you boys who I get to come into work with every day with a smile on face. I have never taken any of it for granted.”
Johnson will play his last game against his former club, the Sharks, at PointsBet Stadium in round 26. The Warriors have the bye in the final round of the season.
“There’s an entire generation of kids in this country who picked up a rugby league ball because of Shaun Johnson,” Warriors chief executive Cameron George said.
“His impact on not only this club but also rugby league is New Zealand is something that will be remembered here forever.
“And as talented and amazing as Shaun has been as a player, as a person he’s made just as big an impact here at the Warriors through the years.
“I know Shaun hasn’t made this decision lightly and he will depart with the full support of the club and his peers.”
Sea Eagles counting on Turbo-charged run to finals
Manly captain Daly Cherry-Evans says Tom Trbojevic’s impressive form since returning from a hamstring injury that sidelined him for eight weeks has been a “silver lining” for the Sea Eagles, backing his star fullback into a strong run into the end of the home-and-away season.
Trbojevic, who missed the State of Origin series after suffering the injury in May, returned to the field in Manly’s 21-20 victory over North Queensland last month and has since scored tries in both of his side’s routs of Newcastle and Gold Coast.
Trbojevic told this masthead he felt refreshed after “a bit of a break” on the sidelines, adding that he was “just excited to be back playing footy”.
“I feel good … now it’s just about being diligent, focusing on the process, working hard, and we’ll see where we get to.”
Manly will be counting on Trbojevic in the home stretch of the regular season, as the club vies for its first finals appearance since 2021. The Sea Eagles are seventh after having the bye in round 22, and are an outside chance of a top-four spot with five games to go.
Cherry-Evans said Trbojevic’s “fresh legs” would come in handy for Manly, who have squandered chances to make the final eight in recent years.
“The situation that we put ourselves in [this year] is a really good one,” Cherry-Evans said. “We probably do need to take experiences from the last couple of years and what didn’t go right… so I just think we need to put that together, that experience and those learnings, and bring it together and play the style that we know we need to play to get there.”
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