'Hits me low in the gut': Emotional SJ prepares to farewell home fans
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Back in July of 2022 as the Warriors made their long-awaited return to Auckland following the pandemic, Shaun Johnson ran out to a Go Media Stadium crowd as a member of his hometown club for the first time in almost four years.
You didn’t have to know much about his backstory, or observe anything more than just the expression on his face, to know what it meant to him to be back.
It was the Prince of Penrose enjoying the crowd just as much as they were enjoying him.
The run out to a chorus of screaming Wahs fans was what he'd missed most during three seasons spent with the Sharks, and a further six months based out of Australia following his Warriors return.
Now, as he prepares to do it for the 87th and final time this Friday night, the mere thought of running onto the ground – which has been – has the retiring No.7 on an emotional knife’s edge.
"The bit that's wigging me out about all of this is that I'm only going to get to experience running out of those doors in front of this crowd one more time," Johnson said mid-week, pausing briefly to regather himself.
"That's probably the thing that just hits me low in the gut, and it always has ever since I was telling myself 'you're going to make this [retirement] decision'.
For some reason the last run out here at Mount Smart was always the bit that upset me most about coming out and saying that [I'm retiring].
Shaun Johnson
“I just know I'll miss it… I already have the feelings of what it's going be like coming here for one last time this weekend.
“It's going to be sad that I don't come here in this capacity anymore.
“It's just the best feeling… running out to a place that you love and care about so much.
"To feel the type of love and warmth coming straight back at you, from a crowd that just rides every bit of momentum with you, the ups, the downs, that celebrates like no other.
“It just makes you feel like you're invincible.
“That's what I need to just get through one last time, because once I've done that then I reckon everything else will be just smiles on the face, nothing to be sad about.”
Since first arriving at the Warriors as a plank-thin 16-year-old touch player, the club’s home in the middle of an industrial suburb in Auckland has very much become a second home to Johnson.
His eventual blooding in the NRL by then coach Ivan Cleary in 2011 was the most keenly awaited debut for a player in club history, dwarfing even that which accompanied his idol Stacey Jones in 1995.
In addition to his magical acts on the field, ‘SJ’ has been a gift in every sense of the word for the Warriors off of it.
His rock star looks, charisma by the bucket load and willingness to give up his time for people mean he’d have been a favourite among the club’s fanbase even without the trademark step and dossier of game-winning plays.
The faithful have watched him grow up in front of them, and in some cases Johnson has done the same with them.
“A lot of the people that sit in the stands have been there since I came to the club and there's faces that I recognise every week; that's not lost on me," he said.
“It means just as much to me to be able to run out and play in front of them and perform in front of them as it does for them to come and cheer us on.
“The big part to it all is hearing some of the stories from fans or kids that were a certain age when I did a certain thing at some point of my career, and them telling me how I’ve impacted their life.
SJ the human highlight reel
“They’ve been on this journey with me the whole time. They’re things I just never realised.”
In a twist of fate, Johnson will play his last home game for the Warriors and then head to Cronulla to play the final game of his career at the home ground of the club he played 44 times for between 2019 and 2021.
That’ll bring with it a series of emotions of its own, but for now he’s just worried about getting through those handful of steps out onto the field this Friday night.
“It was once a journey that I never thought would end," Johnson said.
“For me it still doesn’t feel real that ‘far out, I’m done. I’m done after the next couple of games’.
“I just need to get this last run out done this week and then I know I’ll be sweet.”
Match: Warriors v Bulldogs
Round 25 -
home Team
Warriors
14th Position
away Team
Bulldogs
5th Position
Venue: Go Media Stadium, Auckland
