Imagine your team has just pulled off one of the most spectacular comeback wins of their history - and then think of the last thing you want to see the morning after.
Gamewinning hero Shaun Johnson has sent shockwaves through NZ Warriors faithful, hobbling onto the team's flight home from Sydney with his left foot in a moonboot.
Barely 12 hours before, the veteran half had sealed a miraculous come-from-behind 32-30 victory over Cronulla Sharks with a penalty goal in the final seconds, after his team had trailed 20-0 early.
The performance confirmed what most Warriors fans have seen through the first five rounds of the NRL season - that this version of their team under new coach Andrew Webster is different to its predecessors, who would have folded like a deckchair under such adversity.
That optimism has suffered a bodyblow, with the sight of Johnson, 32, limping through Sydney Airport.
"Nah, nah, it's just precautionary," he told gathered media. "It's just a cork to the calf.
"Feels a bit extra to be wearing a moonboot with a corked calf, but with the flight and stuff, the physios prefer it that way, so... it'll be alright."
Through four wins from their five outings, Johnson has been very much at the centre of the Warriors resurgence, training himself into awesome physical condition during the pre-season and steering his team around the park with his kicking prowess.
After scoring the gamewinning try against Canterbury Bulldogs last week, he snatched another against the Sharks and tormented Kiwis winger Ronaldo Mulitalo into mistakes with his tactical kicking in the heavy rain.
Off the tee, his goalkicking was perfect, culminating in the 35-metre penalty that put his team ahead for the first time inside the last minute.
This was the Johnson Warriors fans hoped they would see more often, after the club reached the 2011 NRL Grand Final in his rookie season, only to be denied by unrealistic expectations, erratic form and injury through the years.
He and his team are currently riding the crest of a wave of confidence that kept them in the hunt, even at 20 points down, and carried them to second on the NRL ladder, behind only unbeaten Brisbane Broncos.
"I think the confidence was always there," said Johnson at Sydney Airport. "This just confirmed it.
"It just reiterated that we're never really out of the contest, no matter what's happening. At one point there, we felt like there was an avalanche coming at us - the Sharks were playing that well.
"To be able to turn that around is very special and it happens very rarely. We've been there before and just faded away, because it was too much to handle.
"To absorb all that, to bounce out of halftime with a spring in our step and ready to go after the game... it's something we'll hold onto."
Johnson's next challenge must now be overcoming his calf niggle to be named for this week's road trip to Newcastle, where the Warriors will meet a Knights outfit they've already beaten once in their season-opener at Wellington.
Join Newshub at 8:15pm Sunday for live updates of the Warriors v Knights NRL clash
