Blake Green: Great to see Shaun Johnson back but we will limit him

He had an ability to glide across the field and beat defenders with his sidestep and acceleration. Photo / Supplied

Opinion

COMMENT:

I have great memories of playing alongside Shaun Johnson — but I won't let that become a distraction tonight.

Like many in the Warriors team, I really enjoyed playing with him.

He had an ability to glide across the field and beat defenders with his sidestep and acceleration and made some plays for the club that will be on the NRL highlights reel for ever.

But there won't be any emotion attached to tonight — there can't be.

I'll be doing everything I can to make sure that we get the two premiership points and to ensure we are competing, following our game plan and staying in the moment. That's all that matters.

There might be a few choice words during the game but as a club we are not big on sledging or anything like that; everyone is so focused on getting their job done.

In terms of Shaun, our main assignment is to limit his impact on the match.

That means we can't allow Cronulla to roll down the field. If they get momentum and are playing on the front foot that brings Shaun, and their other playmakers, into the match, and they can be difficult to contain.

Putting aside the Panthers game (round 15), we have been on the road continuously since the middle of last month which has necessitated a change in approach with our preparations.

We've had to cut back on our field sessions and spend more time on recovery, including the team having cryotherapy sessions on Wednesday.

It's a cliché, but it's also meant we have had to focus more on ourselves and where we need to improve, rather than analysing the opposition.

It was frustrating that we didn't get the result in Brisbane with the extra time draw, but there were a lot more positives than negatives.

It was a really high intensity game, and statistically the match with the most live ball in play all season.

We were threatening all night, putting holes in them everywhere but we weren't good enough to maintain it for 80 minutes.

In the second half, we put ourselves under pressure with a few errors to bring them back into the match, but it was good the way we responded after that.

There has been a lot of talk about our missed field goals in golden point, but we were dominant in that period.

To get a good set up for a one point shot you need really strong momentum in the two or three plays before, as it's rare that referees will penalise for holding down or offside in that part of the game.

Kodi Nikorima was having a really good night and things were going his way, so I thought it was best he had the shots. Unfortunately, we didn't knock one over.

In terms of tonight in Wellington, we know how good Cronulla have been at times and they have so much experience in their squad.

They haven't got the results recently but that only makes them more dangerous. We are looking forward to a big night in Wellington, a great occasion and hopefully the right result.