Shaun Johnson has seen a decline in his career kicking percentage since joining the Cronulla Sharks. Photo / Getty
Shaun Johnson has seen a decline in his career kicking percentage since joining the Cronulla Sharks. Photo / Getty
Kiwi rugby league star Shaun Johnson has called for the Cronulla Sharks to hire a specialist coach in a bid to address his kicking woes.
Johnson, who left the Warriors earlier this year to join the Sharks in Australia, has seen a decline in his kicking career percentage from 75 to 71 per cent since the start of the season.
Although admitting injury has played a part in prevented him from putting in the hours with the kicking tee, Johnson said part of his struggles had been due to missing the guidance of Kiwi coach Daryl Halligan.
"This is the first year I haven't had a kicking coach to work with. So I've been trying to figure it out myself," Johnson told AAP.
Shaun Johnson has worked with Daryl Halligan for most of his career. Photo / Photosport
"I've worked with Daryl most of my career, but this year I haven't been able to. It's me trying to figure it out myself and having little conversations with people here and there.
"If I missed a kick, depending on how I'd miss it, it would confuse me a little bit."
Widely regarded as the pre-eminent goal kicker of his generation, Halligan is employed by at least four clubs across the league.
He was last spotted at Penrith's captain's run on Thursday working with Nathan Clearly, who nailed a perfect five from five in last week's clash against the Sharks in windy conditions.
Without the expertise of a consultant, goalkicking has proven an Achilles heel for the Sharks, having lost four games despite scoring at least as many tries as their opposition.
"We've pretty much got a coach in every other aspect of the game. I don't see why we shouldn't have one in goalkicking, that's for sure," Johnson said.
"Two points, it's proven for us, it's been very important at times. Hopefully, it's something we can look into in the future."
With Sunday's clash against St George Illawarra fast approaching, Johnson insisted his recent struggles hadn't left a dent in his confidence.
"My mentality around my goalkicking's never changed. I feel confident taking every kick," he said.
"I wasn't able to practice much obviously with my body and how it was feeling. But certainly that didn't affect my confidence going into kicking.
"I've kicked for a number of years now. It's something I enjoy doing. I realise I'm going to miss a few, but hopefully I get more than I miss."
