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The moment Shaun Johnson almost walked away from Rugby League
Nicholas Quinlan • December 2nd, 2025 10:11 pm
Shaun Johnson has revealed that he almost retired from Rugby League a year before he was awarded the RLPA's Player of the Year.
Debuting in the Warriors’ NRL side in 2011, Johnson started his first-grade career with a bang, helping the side make their second Grand Final appearance in the club’s history.
From there, the dazzling halfback wowed Rugby League fans with his passing and footwork, making him impossible to stop when he is in full flight.
This form would help him attain awards such as the aforementioned RLPA’s Player of the Year and the Dally M Halfback of the Year in 2023 alongside being the all-time leading point scorer for the Warriors.
After playing 268 NRL games for both New Zealand and Cronulla across 14 seasons, Johnson would announce his retirement from the sport following the end of the 2024 season.
But as the skilled halfback revealed, he almost retired in the first season he returned to the Warriors in 2022, which saw the side once again based in Australia to begin the season for the third straight year.
“When I signed back at the Warriors from Cronulla,” Johnson told SENQ Breakfast.
“I remember the feeling; I was so stoked to be coming home to the club, it felt right. The club had been away, like everyone was doing it tough through Covid, but the Warriors had been away for three odd years through Covid, just battling away.
“It was sort of pitched that I’m coming home and so are the Warriors. So, that’s where we were heading when I re-signed that we would be coming home.
“And then another lockdown got enforced, and the borders shut last minute, so we got pivoted to Brisbane.
“Why I say this was the challenging part for me is because obviously…I think Millah was one and a half or two years old at that time, and I had to do that stint in Aussie on my own.
“That was a really tough year. Kayla was in NZ with my daughter, which I was watching grow up through Facetime, and for anyone that knows me knows that I’m a real homebody. So, if I’m with my family, I’m good. It's as simple as that.
“So that was a really challenging time where I almost retired that year, I almost walked away from the game.
“And if I had done that, well I don’t get ’23, and I don’t get to finish my career on my terms.”
Following his retirement, Johnson has proceeded to write an autobiography called Perspective which is available to purchase at all good book stores.
