All Blacks Mark Telea and Dalton Papali'i alongside defence coach Scott McLeod look ahead to their clash with Italy as the team is ‘buzzing’ from an impressive South Africa v Ireland match over the weekend. Video / NZ Herald / Photosport
Australian league legend Cameron Smith believes Shaun Johnson is a strong contender to take the Dally M Medal, after his stellar season for the Warriors.
Johnson is among the favourites to be anointed the NRL’s player of the year after arguably the best season of his career, in a remarkable individual renaissance. He was a huge part of the Warriors’ success in 2023, with his peerless playmaking and organisational ability along with a new-found intensity on defence.
Few players had more of an impact on their team’s fortunes this season than the 33-year-old, which puts him in a good position to become just the third Kiwi to take out the Dally M, after Gary Freeman in 1992 and Roger Tuivasa-Sheck in 2018.
Broncos’ prop Payne Haas led voting before it went behind closed doors after round 12, ahead of Nathan Cleary, Harry Grant, 2022 winner Nicho Hynes and Johnson. But the New Zealander enjoyed an impressive second half of the year, which should have pushed him up the ranks.
The award covers the regular season only, so performances in finals don’t come into the equation.
Former Storm players Tohu Harris, Jesse Bromwich and Cameron Smith. Photo / Getty Images
Smith, regarded as a future immortal and one of the greatest players in NRL history, is an astute judge. The former hooker is a two-time Dally M medallist (2006 and 2017) despite the award traditionally being dominated by halfbacks and fullbacks. He also won nine Dally M positional awards and was the first player to reach 400 NRL games, retiring in 2020 after 430 appearances for the Melbourne Storm.
Now a Channel 9 commentator, as well as a Queensland State of Origin assistant coach, Smith has been impressed with Johnson’s consistency and dynamic play this season, along with his ability to reinvent himself in the twilight of his career.
“He’s had an outstanding year,” Smith told the Herald. “He’s the Dally M favourite, isn’t he? Put it this way, if he doesn’t he is going to come pretty close. His consistent form throughout the year has certainly put him in a very strong position and when you are playing in [a] team that is winning consistently, that gives you a good opportunity as well. If he wins it, there will be a lot of people in rugby league circles that will be very pleased.”
Johnson isn’t the jet-heeled game-breaker of seasons past but has become more influential. He can still bring magic touches – with his acceleration, elusive ability and sidesteps – but is much more complete, within a structure that suits him perfectly.
“It’s a challenge as you get older but he has changed his game, adjusted it slightly,” said Smith. “He acknowledges he is not the SJ of a decade ago when he was starting out. He is comfortable with that and has adjusted his game accordingly.”
“He plays at a lot more tempo now than what he has in his entire career. The other thing I’ve noticed is he is actually willing to engage the defensive line; he’s taking himself right into the defensive line and you can see the difference that is making for the guys on the outside, the amount of time and space he is preserving for them.”
Aside from Johnson, there are plenty of other Warriors in contention for awards on Wednesday night.
Andrew Webster has been nominated for coach of the year, along with Ivan Cleary (Penrith) and Kevin Walters (Brisbane).
Tohu Harris is up for best captain, against the two grand final skippers, Isaah Yeo (Panthers) and Adam Reynolds (Broncos).
Dallin Watene-Zelezniak (wing), Wayde Egan (hooker), Addin Fonua-Blake (prop), Johnson and Harris are all finalists in the positional categories.
Michael Burgess has been a sports journalist since 2005, winning several national awards and covering the Olympics, Fifa World Cups and America’s Cup campaigns. He has also reported on the Warriors and NRL for more than a decade.
