Shaun Johnson will play out one more year with the Warriors in the NRL in 2024, signing a one-season extension with New Zealand after months of speculation that he may be on the verge of hanging up the boots.
The deal, first reported by the NZ Herald today, was signed, sealed, and delivered this week. Johnson will earn just shy of $600,000 in his swan song season, basically the same as he is being paid by the New Zealand club now.
The Wests Tigers were, for a time, also in the running to bring Johnson back to Australia after offering the veteran halfback a two-year, $700,000-a-season carrot.
The 32-year-old didn’t entertain that offer for long though, The Sporting Base has heard, and is instead prioritising staying in New Zealand and gunning for potential premiership glory with the Warriors.
He became just the fifth Warriors star to hit 200 games just last weekend.
In May, the halfback said: “If I do play, I want it to be here, I don’t want to go somewhere for the wrong reasons. I just felt like if I was to leave again, it wouldn’t be right. I don’t want to go elsewhere and try to win. I want to win here if I’m playing.”
Johnson has hit a rich vein of form this year, rising to heights not seen for quite some time in his 244-game career. The Warriors have certainly benefited from the lift too, currently sitting 6th on the NRL ladder with a 10-7 record. They face the Sharks at 2pm on Sunday for a chance to rise even higher in the standings too.
Next year, the 32-year-old will be one of five halves in the New Zealand stables. Alongside him sit Te Maire Martin, Luke Metcalf, Ronald Volkman, and Chanel Harris-Tavita. Volkman and Metcalf are expected to leave.
The Warriors have another exciting incoming signing arriving in 2024 too; Roger Tuivasa-Sheck is coming back to the NRL with New Zealand and has signed for three years.
