New Zealand Warriors retiring halfback Shaun Johnson has confimed he received an offer with everything he wanted to play on for 2025 before electing to hang up the boots.
Johnson, who will go down as one of the greatest players in Warriors' history, made the call to hang up his boots earlier this week after struggling for form throughout the 2024 NRL season.
The decision allows the Warriors to plan for life after the halfback, with Johnson telling the media this week that receiving the offer from the club and it not feeling 'how it should have' was the moment he knew it was time to give the game away.
“The real drop penny moment was probably when I received offers from the club,” Johnson told the media per SENZ Radio.
“They came through and gave me everything I wanted and it probably didn't hit home how it should have, or how previous contracts have in the past.
“That was a bit of a point for me where I was like 'I'm not just going to sign a contract here to pick up a pay cheque'. This is something here that I need to think about and I need to figure out.
“If I'm being honest, that moment sucked, because if you told the kid before I'd walk through the doors at 33, you're going to be turning down a contract. You would have told him, 'shut up, sign the thing. Do what you love'.
“All these conversations, all these thoughts that happened in the background, that's happened in my head time and time again, but it still led me to make this decision.”
The Warriors are still a chance of playing finals rugby league this season, and that will now be the driving aim for Johnson and the Warriors, who kick off their final four games of the season this weekend against the Dolphins in Brisbane.
That will be followed by games against the Manly Sea Eagles, Canterbury Bulldogs and Cronulla Sharks, with the clash against Canterbury the only one of those at home.
The Warriors finish the season with a bye, and it's likely that four out of four wins from those remaining games would see them sneak into the bottom of the top eight and play finals rugby league.