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Sydney Roosters loom as perfect club to sign Shaun Johnson

THE Sydney Roosters will be a great fit if boom Kiwi halfback Shaun Johnson leaves the New Zealand Warriors at the end of next season.

The Warriors have reportedly allowed Johnson to seek other clubs. (Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images)
The Warriors have reportedly allowed Johnson to seek other clubs. (Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images)

THE Sydney Roosters will be a great fit if boom Kiwi halfback Shaun Johnson leaves the New Zealand Warriors at the end of next season.

The final year of Johnson’s contract with the Warriors will coincide with the retirement of the Roosters’ grand final hero Cooper Cronk.

We do know Roosters supremo Nick Politis and coach Trent Robinson are fans of the enigmatic halfback and his spectacular brilliance.

Shaun Johnson could be on his way out of the Warriors. Picture: AAP
Shaun Johnson could be on his way out of the Warriors. Picture: AAP

THE Sydney Roosters will be a great fit if boom Kiwi halfback Shaun Johnson leaves the New Zealand Warriors at the end of next season.

The final year of Johnson’s contract with the Warriors will coincide with the retirement of the Roosters’ grand final hero Cooper Cronk.

We do know Roosters supremo Nick Politis and coach Trent Robinson are fans of the enigmatic halfback and his spectacular brilliance.

The problem is Johnson is the game’s most inconsistent playmaking genius. He produces three or four nine-out-of-10 games a season and we talk him up as a champion playmaker.

The Warriors have reportedly allowed Johnson to seek other clubs. (Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images)
The Warriors have reportedly allowed Johnson to seek other clubs. (Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images)

The other 20-odd games are the problem. The days he doesn’t turn up, like in the ­finals against the Penrith Panthers at ANZ Stadium.

A few weeks earlier he produced one of the finest individual performances of the season to almost single-handedly destroy the Panthers.

Yet when it really counted he was unsighted.

It is the story of his career and why I left him out of the top 50 players in the NRL at the beginning of the year.

He plays far more average games than great ones.

The Roosters would be a great fit for Shaun Johnson. Picture: AAP
The Roosters would be a great fit for Shaun Johnson. Picture: AAP

One week he will play like a combination of Johnathan Thurston and Andrew Johns,and the next like a NSW Cup halfback.

This is where the Roosters will become a great fit.

Premier coach Robinson loves a challenge with potentially great players.

Look at the improvement in Luke Keary and James Tedesco under Robinson this year.

Both were very good players before joining the Roosters.

Keary has since won a Clive Churchill Medal and played for Australia.

Tedesco won a premiership, State of Origin, Dally M fullback of the year, the Roosters’ best and fairest and is a nomination for the Golden Boot.

There is nothing to say Robinson can’t do the same for Johnson.

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Original URL: https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/nrl/teams/roosters/sydney-roosters-loom-as-perfect-club-to-sign-shaun-johnson/news-story/a76c5deecd6da98d912a5ad664d883c9