Returning playmaker Shaun Johnson can be the key difference-maker for NZ Warriors' top eight ambitions in 2022, says assistant coach Justin Morgan.
After an up-and-down year, the Warriors will finish their 2021 season on Sunday afternoon, taking on Gold Coast Titans.
But the 2021 season will most likely linger as a 'what could have been' for the Warriors, after missing out on the top eight by two wins and four competition points.
What's more, the Kiwi side could have easily managed those two extra wins, after losing eight games by eight points or loss this year.
Already with the wheels in motion for 2022, they re-signed former halfback Shaun Johnson from Cronulla Sharks in June, with the club's record pointscorer returning to the Warriors on a two-year deal.
Coming back to the club older and wiser, Morgan is certain Johnson is exactly what the Warriors need to clinch those close games next season.
"You buy experienced players and players that can get you home in big games," Morgan says.
"I think the difference now for Shaun, when he's coming back to the club, as opposed to when he was here last time, while he'll have some pressure on his shoulders being one of the playmakers, I think it's also fair to say he'll have a fair level of experience around him.
"He's gonna have guys like Tohu [Harris], he's gonna have Addin Fonua-Blake and Matt Lodge, Dallin [Watene-Zelezniak] is a very experienced player. You throw in Ben Murdoch-Masila and those kind of guys, it's not going to all be at his doorstep.
"Chanel's [Harris-Tavita] certainly developed along with Wayde [Egan] in being a more experienced playmaker.
"We're hopeful that Shaun will get us home in those closer games, but also some of the experience that guys like Wayde, Chanel and to a lesser degree Reece [Walsh] - because he's still learning his trade - have gained this year in the close games that we've lost.
"Their experience as well will help us get home in those games."
And for Morgan, who'll reunite with Johnson after initially working together at the Warriors, the signing of the experienced half is something for fans and the club itself to look forward to.
"I'm looking forward to coaching Shaun again, I enjoyed coaching him previously. It's fair to say he's more mature and a better player now than he was four or five years ago, and the role he'll play at the club will no doubt be slightly different to the one that he played the first time he was there.
"[I'm] really excited about him coming."
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