Following surgery and weeks of inactivity, his left leg has been stripped of a lot of muscle which he will slowly regain over the coming months.
Johnson began cardio work three weeks ago under the watchful eye of former Warriors and Kiwis enforcer and club trainer Ruben Wiki.
Long hours spent on the grinder in the club gym are just the start of his rehab and he hopes to be back running by early December.
The Kiwis international and current Golden Boot holder hopes to make his playing return in next year's Dick Smith NRL Auckland Nines tournament at Eden Park on Waitangi weekend February 6 and 7.
Johnson's injury came as a hammer blow to the Warriors who looked on course to make their first finals appearance since the 2011 grand final, when they climbed into fourth spot on the NRL ladder following their round 18 win over Melbourne Storm.
The following week they were brought back to earth with a 24-0 loss to the Sydney Roosters and the following week lost Johnson for the season during the round 20 clash against the Sea Eagles.
They never recovered, losing their last eight games to equal their 2012 record for most consecutive defeats in a season.
Speaking at last night's post-match press conference, captain Simon Mannering admitted the loss of Johnson was a big blow but felt his side should have coped better in his absence.
"For sure, he's a real key part of our team and he was a loss but we still had faith in the guys coming through and belief that we could get a job done but as a group we didn't handle that," said Mannering.
"I don't know it us senior players didn't rally the younger boys good enough we didn't handle it as well as we should have.
"To lose eight in a row after that is very disappointing, especially with the players we had out there that were more than capable of it. We didn't do a good enough job as a team."
