NZ Warriors gamewinner Shaun Johnson has reflected on his "surreal" comeback to his childhood club, after slotting a golden-point field goal for 25-24 victory against North Queensland Cowboys at Redcliffe.
Trailling 18-12 at halftime, the Auckland side, playing at their adopted home in the suburbs of Brisbane, scrambled back to parity with a converted Euan Aitken try in the 64th minute, but could not break the deadlock within the regulation 80.
Playing with the wind first in extra time, Johnson needed two attempts to finally nail the winner and afterwards summed up the path that had led him back to the Warriors, after his stormy 2018 departure.
"It's just such an awesome feeling to be back and to contribute," he told Fox Sport. "The boys just stuck in there and we were out on our feet.
"I was able to see the pressure coming, step to the side, and dropped and hoped really - and it was good.
"This is seriously surreal, if I'm being honest. My family is probably back home watching this right now and my partner probably has a tear in her eye... my mum, my dad.
Johnson, 31, left the Warriors, after a very public break-up with then-coach Stephen Kearney, moving to Sydney, where he linked with Cronulla Sharks. In the meantime, he has married netball international Kayla Cullen, become a father and seen his career further undermined by injury, before seizing an opportunity to rejoin his beloved club.
"It's a feeling I can't really explain... I've literally got no words. It's not just me I'm representing.
"My family grew up loving the Warriors, I've been supporting them since I was a kid. I know I've played the game for a little while now, but I still have to pinch myself that this is actually my live and this is what I'm doing.
"Every day is such a blessing and the fact I'm over here without my family motivates me more to do the right thing and get wins on the board, so we can return home at the end of the year with smiles on our faces."
Once regarded as the wiz kid who would carry the Warriors to an NRL championship, Johnson left the club complaining that his experience and leadership were being under-utilised. Ironically, those are the very skills he was recruited to bring for his second stint.
"Shauny just brings that calm head," said captain Addin Fonua-Blake. "You say you can't put an old head on young shoulders, but he's that old fella around the pack.
"He's got plenty of experience and it showed tonight. Last year, we lost a few games like this, but he's just steering the ship from behind and getting us points.
"That wasn't his best kick, but at the end of the day, it goes over and we go home with two points."
Now in their third season stranded across the Tasman by COVID-19, the Warriors are eyeing a July return to Mt Smart Stadium for their first real home game since August 2019. After opening their 2022 campaign with two losses, the team have reeled off three consecutive wins, two at Redcliffe, where the Dolphins will join the NRL next season.
Coach Nathan Brown credited his side's goal-line defence that kept the Cowboys at bay, despite an overwhelming supply of possession, but also paid tribute to the local fans that had adopted his team as theirs - for now.
"This is the closest thing we've had to a home ground we've had in three years," he said. "We've never had an atmosphere or anything like this anywhere else in the past few years.
"To be here, live here, train here and you get a bit of an affiliation with people around town. I saw a fair number of people coming to the game and they say, 'we're not a Warriors supporter, but while you're here, we are a Warriors supporter'.
"We didn't have this sort of thing anywhere else, so for the boys to have a crowd cheering them on, there's no doubt it helps."
NZ Warriors 25 (Arthars, Curran, Nikorima, Aitken tries; Walsh 4 goals, Johnson field goal) North Queensland Cowboys 24 (Dearden, Drinkwater, Feldt, Holmes tries; Holmes 4 goals)
