Warriors suffer another Johnson injury blow

By Will Toogood

The Warriors have suffered a significant blow as they search to regain some form of momentum after a disastrous last outing against the Titans.

Star halfback Shaun Johnson has suffered an Achilles injury and will miss up to four weeks of action.

The 33-year-old has battled with that injury for most of the season, but it was a hamstring strain which forced him from the field in the 66-6 hammering on the Gold Coast.

Coach Andrew Webster said Johnson had done everything he could to have rehabbed the injury but it hadn’t come right.

“He’s going to be out for at least four weeks.. it’s all around the Achilles. He had ice on his hamstring, he had some hamstring tightness on the weekend but Shaun rehabbed it, it felt amazing and we took our time with him but he’s just not come back the way he wanted.”

That four week timeline could be longer as Webster said the Warriors would give Johnson “as long as he needs” to recover fully.

It presents another frustrating setback for the playmaker, after an ankle injury meant he got very little time on the paddock in pre-season and has missed time with a pectoral injury also.

Replacing Johnson presents yet another headache for coach Andrew Webster, whose team naming later on Tuesday will likely be the most scrutinised of his Warriors tenure.

This article was first published on nzherald.co.nz and is republished here with permission