Sharks recruit Shaun Johnson the most important signing of 2019
Move over Wayne Bennett, Dave Klemmer and Corey Norman — no recruit has had a bigger impact on their new club’s title hopes than that of mercurial halfback Shaun Johnson.
NRL
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New Cronulla playmaker Shaun Johnson has been hailed the most important signing of 2019 — with the New Zealand Test star boasting a greater influence over TAB betting markets than Wayne Bennett, Dave Klemmer or Corey Norman.
Despite the Sharkies currently lurching from one disaster to the next, 28-year-old Johnson suddenly looms as the saviour of a club now preparing to play without both its head coach Shane Flanagan and Queensland Origin star Valentine Holmes.
According to bookmakers, no recruit has had a bigger impact on their new club’s title hopes than that of the mercurial No. 7 boasting 162 Warriors appearances and 29 Tests for the Kiwis.
While Johnson has long been criticised for his lack of consistency with the Aucklanders, his move to the Shire on December 1 saw the Sharks’ premiership hopes firm from $17 to $13 with the TAB.
The halfback’s own Dally M medal hopes were also significantly wound in from $26 to $17.
And it’s because what Johnson gets in 2019 is the one thing the playmaker has largely missed most, his supporters argue, across the ditch — an NRL pack famed for its experience, grit and willingness to go out into the car park if necessary.
As a result, Johnson’s impact on premiership betting has been greater than that of Kangaroo prop Klemmer joining Newcastle ($19 to $17) or controversial No. 6 Norman switching to St George Illawarra ($15 to $13).
Similarly, when star Brisbane backrower Josh McGuire signed on with North Queensland, the Cowboys only firmed from $15 to $13.
Elsewhere, the premiership odds of both South Sydney and Manly remained unchanged when they signed on respective coaches Wayne Bennett and Des Hasler for next season.
Certainly it has been a chaotic off-season for both bookmakers and Cronulla.
When Holmes announced he was quitting the club to play NFL, the Sharkies were wound out in TAB premiership betting from $15 to $21. The only club to take a bigger hit was Canterbury when Klemmer walked, drifting from $34 to $41.
Cronulla later firmed back into $17 before the signing of Johnson put them shorter again.
However, the club has since gone back out to $15 following the decision of NRL CEO Todd Greenberg to deregister Flanagan.
Yet in Johnson, who will likely fill the No. 6 jersey outside halfback Chad Townsend, the Sharks have a genuine matchwinner.
Better, the livewire Kiwi will get to show what he can do behind a pack including the likes of, Andrew Fifita, Aaron Woods and Wade Graham.
And while Johnson has never been considered among the competition’s most elite goal-kickers, he still finished the 2018 season with a 76% success rate, and was at almost 80% the season prior.
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