Johnson taunts old club as Sharks vault into top eight
A bloke sat in the front row at Central Coast Stadium claiming he had unearthed the "Warriors' Jesus".
It was a cutout figure he had brought himself, maybe in the hope the powers above would lend a hand to a club which has made the ultimate sacrifice for the NRL this year.
Yet on the day of worship the club's old chosen one, Shaun Johnson, decided to have one of those days which were all too infrequent by the end of his time at the Warriors.
As his old teammates only know, when he's in the mood like he was on Sunday there's almost none better in the game.
The Sharks' polarising five-eighth is starting to look like the man they hoped they were buying, lifting Cronulla into a share of eighth after a 46-10 belting of the stranded Warriors.
The Warriors have only one more game left before Ken Maumalo, David Fusitu'a, Agnatius Paasi and King Vuniyayawa return home to New Zealand. They haven't seen their families for almost three months.
There are 10 weeks left of the regular season and every time they play you would hope most NRL fans are saying a little thank you for keeping the competition intact.
Yet on Sunday, there was little charity from an old boy – or anyone else for that matter.
Even when trailing by 30 points midway through the second half, Blake Green was sent to the sin bin for a professional foul after blocking Wade Graham while chasing a kick through. A more appropriate call might have been the mercy rule.
For all of the conjecture since he left the Warriors, Johnson has rarely looked this content and happy.
Shaun Johnson crosses for a Sharks try against his former club. Credit:Getty
He scored one miraculous try when he grounded the ball inches inside the dead ball line after latching onto a ricochet off his own kick and had a hand in countless others, including a 101-metre effort in which he fetched the ball in the Sharks' in goal and linked with Sione Katoa, who bagged a double.
His goalkicking, which cast such a shadow over last season, was near flawless with his only miss from eight attempts cannoning into an upright from the sideline.
It took all of four minutes to realise the Warriors' unbeaten record at Central Coast Stadium this season was about to end.
Braden Hamlin-Uele steamed over for the first try and the Sharks finished the first half with four, and could have had more.
Cronulla coach John Morris took the liberty of benching Wade Graham, Aaron Woods and Blayke Brailey for extended periods in the second half before next week's local derby against the Dragons.
CRONULLA-SUTHERLAND SHARKS 46 (Sione Katoa 2, Jesse Ramien 2, Braden Hamlin-Uele, Will Kennedy, Ronaldo Mulitalo, Shaun Johnson tries; Shaun Johnson 7 goals) defeated NEW ZEALAND WARRIORS 10 (Ken Maumalo, Wayde Egan tries; Roger Tuivasa-Sheck goal) at Central Coast Stadium. Referee: Matt Cecchin.