Warriors all-time great Shaun Johnson joined The Rock Drive’s Jay and Dunc ahead of his live version of ‘League Lounge’ at Fulltime Sports Bar tonight (10 Sept).
The retired halfback has started up his own show on Sky, yarning all things league, and they’ve given him the ropes to do a one-hour finals special in front of a live audience.
He chatted to the fellas about his career, retirement, his ‘give me your eyes’ segments, how it’s been hosting his own show, and a bit about the live show tonight.
Jay wasted no time in asking Shaun about retirement.
“I saw you speak about it with Fozzy hanging up the boots this weekend,” Jay said about Kieran Foran, another NRL great who’s just retired. “He’s older than you, and you wrapped up before him. Very similar sort of careers… Did you ever think, ‘the fact that this bloke is still going, maybe I had a little bit of juice left in the tank?’”
Being the cheeky bugger he is, Jay also added: “Maybe I pursued my amateur golfing career just a little bit early?”
Shaun spoke about how there are people who squeeze every last drop out of what they have, and then there are people like him, who “walk out… with a bit still left.”
“I think everyone knew… I probably could have gone a year or two more,” Shaun said, confirming that other clubs even offered contracts to keep him on for a little longer. “But I was excited for a new challenge.”
Dunc wondered if Shaun got the call when Warriors halfback Luke Metcalf went down with a season-ending injury, but he wasn’t having any of that.
“No, let’s not go down this path,” was his answer.
He’s been asked that plenty of times, but Shaun had made his intentions extremely clear when he was retiring - he was not coming back.
He spoke to the talent and the depth of the Warriors this season, and how they have “four bloody good halfbacks” who are “far better than what I’d offer”.
Acting like he isn’t one of the greatest Wahs to exist.
Jay then asked about his ‘Give me your eyes’ segments, where he asks for fan and audience attention as a way to educate and connect fans to the game, and give them a little bit of a rark up.
Most recently, he and the Warriors posted a video to Instagram, getting fans excited about finals footy, educating them on the privilege of being in the playoffs.
“Jackson Thomas and the crew over there at the Warriors, like jeez, they tell a story,” Shaun said about the video. “Jack sort of said to me, ‘Look, I want to hear it from you. What does this moment mean?’ And I could just speak.”
He said it served as “just a little reminder that, although it has been a little bit wobbly… this is special, the fact that we even get to have this conversation. We’re a part of finals.”
After everyone had wiped their tears, the fellas got to chatting about the fantastic product that is League Lounge.
Jay recalled a conversation that he’d had a while back with Shaun, about where he saw himself post-footy, and when this offer came up, “you were like, what is it that people want to know?”
Speaking for all of us, Jay affirmed that Shaun has “managed to absolutely nail those insights which nobody else could get.”
Shaun said he had the idea as a player, so when he was hanging up his boots, he thought, “I would love our fans to have access to our players, to our stories, to our insights that they just don’t currently have.”
After some deliberation with Sky, League Lounge was born.
“I’ve got to give Sky their flowers,” Shaun said. “For a big corp to sort of take the reins off and go, here you go, Shaun, build this how you want it. It allows me to sit in a space now where it is an extension of myself… and I feel really comfortable.”
Shaun talked about how he’s been adjusting to the art of controlling a live show - chatting league while also throwing to ad breaks, maintaining the energy, performing interviews, and all the pressures that come with live TV.
Alright, you lot, make sure you flick on your telly at 8pm tonight. On Sky Sport 1 & Sky Sport Now, it is the first edition of ‘League Lounge’ live in its finals special - previewing the finals matchups, recapping the season, giving out awards, and Shaun being joined by guests.
And of course, the Wahs take on the Panthers this Saturday, kicking off at 5pm. You can’t get rid of Shaun, because he’s on that coverage too, on Sky Sport 2 and Sky Sport Now.
In all seriousness, we bloody love ya, Shaun, what an absolute legend.
