Former New Zealand head coach Tony Kemp believes halfback Shaun Johnson is coming to the end of his illustrious career in a struggling Warriors side.
Speaking on SEN’s NRL Crunch Time, Kemp was scathing in his assessment of the 31-year-old’s season and said he is turning into a liability for coach Nathan Brown with some of his decision-making.
“I’ve had a thought process around Shaun for a while now, I think he’s gun-shy,” Kemp said.
“You need your halves to go to the line and really get across that advantage line and Shaun refuses to do that.
“There was a stage last week where the ball popped out under the goal post and a half-back with a ton of energy and a lot of guts would have just picked that up and pushed it over the try line and scored under the post, but he curled up around it and got rag-dolled.”
The 54-year-old not only thinks Johnson is coming to an end, but that the 212-gamer could call the end of his career before the season ends.
“What’s wrong with him is that he won’t take the line on and unless he does, the Warriors aren’t going to be in any games,” he said.
“I don’t see him seeing the year out, I think he’ll hang his boots up before the year’s out, that’s my honest opinion.”
The Warriors have lost four in a row since a surprise one-point win over the Raiders and will face the ever-dangerous Manly Sea Eagles in Manly tonight.