‘We’d love a player like that’: Raiders not ruling out Johnson move

Raiders boss Don Furner has revealed the discussions he and Shaun Johnson’s management have had since the Warriors sensationally told their star halfback he could look elsewhere.

Shaun Johnson’s management has been gauging interest from the Canberra Raiders on the star halfback. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)

CANBERRA are not formally considering Shaun Johnson, but management for the highly paid Warriors NRL star have sought out the Raiders’ interest.

The ace halfback is off contract at the end of next season and the Warriors have told Johnson he is free to explore offers from other clubs.

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Canberra chief executive Don Furner says the club has not made any approaches to Johnson.

News Corp Australia reported this month that the Raiders had been making discreet moves to bring Johnson to Canberra for next season.

“What happens is the manager rings you up and says would you like Shaun Johnson and ‘do you think he would be a good player at your club?’ and you don’t say no,” Furner told reporters on Monday.

“Because one, it’s disrespectful. But then you go ‘great, we’d love a player like that in our team’.”

Furner also dismissed reports that new Raiders assistant coach Andrew McFadden had been behind any push to lure Johnson.

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McFadden coached Johnson at the Warriors from 2014-16 before going into an assistant role under Stephen Kearney, then moving this summer to Canberra.

The Raiders will start 2019 with basically no back up in their halves, with Ata Hingano sidelined with a shoulder injury and Blake Austin having left to play in England.

Raiders captain Jarrod Croker said he was none the wiser to any potential for Johnson to head to the nation’s capital.

“It’s gone pretty quiet since then (initial reports) and I haven’t heard any more about it,” Croker told reporters.

Originally published as ‘We’d love a player like that’: Raiders not ruling out Johnson move