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Shaun Johnson a huge threat, say Kangaroos

Roar Guru
9th November, 2014
1

Maturing New Zealand playmaker Shaun Johnson shapes as the man Australia have to stop in Saturday’s Four Nations final in Wellington.

Johnson has been a revelation for the unbeaten Kiwis in the end of season tournament behind the menacing New Zealand pack and was a key player in their convincing 30-12 opening round win over Australia

The Warriors’ halfback has combined brilliantly with Manly five-eighth Kieran Foran – and Kangaroos skipper Cameron Smith says Johnson has become the Kiwis Test spearhead with a series of consistently impressive performances at representative level.

“He is a huge threat given his ability to run the ball,” Smith said.

“He has come from a touch football background and he plays a similar style in rugby league as well, which can be dangerous for us.

“What we didn’t do in the first game against New Zealand was control the play the ball and control the speed of the game, which they did in defence.

“So any time you give a guy like Shaun Johnson an opportunity on the back of quick play the balls and on the front foot he is always dangerous.

“He almost singlehandedly put them in the World Cup final last year with his try against England and then a conversion.

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“He is a wonderful player and he has been for a couple of years now and he looks pretty confident.

“It is our defence which will minimise his impact on the game.”

After the 24-year-old Johnson, with 83 NRL games under his belt, secured the Kiwis a berth in the World Cup final last year with his last-gasp effort, Australia smashed New Zealand 34-2 in the decider at Old Trafford.

But with 12 members of that squad unavailable for Australia’s Four Nations campaign, Smith said that win meant nothing leading into Wellington’s tournament decider.

“Not this year, this is a new team,” Smith said.

“We all sometimes like to think about the past and talk about the past and maybe even sometimes live in the past but it is not going to help our cause this week against New Zealand because pretty much half to three quarters of our squad are not here.

“This is the 2014 Kangaroos and our challenge is to go over there and play well and be the winners of the 2014 Four Nations.”

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