League star turns up to Raiders training

Warriors halfback Shaun Johnson was a very special guest at a Hibiscus Coast Raiders junior training last week, mucking in with the practice drills, signing autographs and posing for photos.

Still rehabilitating from an injury, Johnson said he hoped to be back playing in a few weeks. 

However, he wasn’t going to let that stop him running around with the young league players. He couldn’t wait to take off his trainers – “I’ve brought my boots and I’m strapping up,” was one of the first things he said.

“Make sure you don’t injure him, but go hard,” the coaches advised their players.

Johnson remembers the impact it had on him as young Raiders player when the Warriors development team played at the Stanmore Bay grounds.

He was clearly among friends and old acquaintances at the club and enjoyed interacting with the kids.

Johnson said when he was a junior, training and playing league was ‘the highlight of the day’. 

He admitted it’s not like that now, after more than a decade at the top level of the sport.

“As you get older there is not that level of excitement but I get to throw a ball around for a living and that’s pretty cool,” Johnson said.