League: Test was no fluke, says confident Johnson

Shaun Johnson says the week in camp with the Kiwis helped to ease the building pressure around the Warriors' worrying form. Photo / Getty Images

Halfback keen to translate his commanding form against Roos into win for the Warriors

Shaun Johnson's commanding performance in the Kiwis' Anzac test win over the Kangaroos may have surprised his critics, but he knows it was no fluke.

The 24-year-old halfback produced his best showing of the season so far in the Suncorp Stadium victory, but Johnson insists he's been putting in the same amount of effort at NRL level with the Warriors.

And while plenty of attention has focused on his club form, Johnson is confident he's been on the right track all along.

"It was no fluke what I did on the weekend," Johnson said. "Cappy [Warriors coach Andrew McFadden] made it clear to me that I've been building towards that every week that I've been playing for the Warriors.

"When you don't win games it's hard to be happy but what I did on the weekend for the Kiwis is something I've been trying to do every week and I've been slowly getting there.

"I've been trying to say that but obviously people still don't really believe me. It's funny what one game can do," he said. "I've just got to come back here and stick with it and know that it does work."

Johnson has every right to be bullish about his own ability yet he concedes the week in camp with the New Zealand team helped ease the building pressure around the Warriors' worrying form. "The week-to-week pressures of footy in the NRL mean you're scrutinised a lot more," he said.

"So the one-off tests, you just get together in camp and kick back and enjoy your time around the boys, which I think benefits me."

Almost every week this season Johnson has had to field questions and address concerns over his game. He admits it has been wearing thin.

Proving his doubters wrong - and squashing the beginnings of self-doubt - were among his chief motivations going into the transtasman test.

"I did a bit of media at the start of last week and was made well aware of what everyone was saying about me. It wasn't really [about proving a point] to them, it was more proving to myself that I did belong in that environment, because you sort of start getting convinced you maybe don't.

"There were a few people that stuck by me as well so I just wanted to thank them for their support and I was just stoked I could do that."

McFadden, a former halfback himself, is one of those supportive figures who has gone out of his way to defend his No7. "To be honest with you, he's been building up for that sort of performance in the last month," he said.

"Unfortunately for Shaun, he bears all the weight of our results. If we lose a game the first person people point to is Shaun.

"But he's been breaking the line and setting up stuff for us for the last month and even his defence has been solid. It's the support around him that we need to really improve."

Toppling the Cronulla Sharks tomorrow is the immediate challenge and Johnson is desperate to help lift his side up from 13th on the NRL ladder. "Obviously it's a really important game ... If we go down this weekend we'll be starting to fall behind the eight ball."