KIWI halfback Shaun Johnson guided the New Zealand Warriors to ninth on the 2014 NRL ladder and was yesterday crowned this season’s Rugby League World Golden Boot recipient, an award handed to the “best player in the world”.
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Say what?
It gets better, though.
He not only won the award, but Johnson romped it in, claiming 44 points to better his nearest rival by 21 points.
Incredible, I know.
Johnson is without doubt a player of promise and went some of the way to living up to the hype when he helped New Zealand claim this year’s Four Nations crown over the Australians, but the 24-year-old isn’t even the best halfback in the world, let alone the best player.
And the fact he edged Sam Burgess, a player who carried his side to a premiership victory, is astounding.
It’s clearly a swipe at the now Bath-based rugby union playing Burgess, who ditched league mid-way through the season to sign a lucrative deal with English rugby in the hope of playing in next year’s Rugby World Cup.
The judges - a panel 13-strong comprising of representatives from Australia, England, France and New Zealand, including former Golden Boot winner Garry Schofield, ex-Great Britain coach Brian Noble and past Kiwi internationals Robbie Hunter-Paul and Daryl Halligan - have made the already laughable gong obsolete.
The panel has said form while playing on the international circuit held more weight when considering the winner of this accolade, but how can form spanning the duration of 26 weeks be totally ignored?
Especially when you consider who has been duped.
nowhere near Johnson, Burgess earned 23 points, with James Graham third on 18 and Greg Inglis fourth with 17.
Dominating a position Johnson is now deemed best at, two-time winner Jonathan Thurston - who missed the Four Nations through injury - polled 13 points and Kiwi prop Jesse Bromwich two.
Johnson becomes only the fourth New Zealander to win the prestigious award, following in the footsteps of Hugh McGahan, Stacey Jones and Benji Marshall.
Rugby league is not a complicated game.
It’s a simple yet captivating sport played by blue collar bushies every Sunday. So why have the game’s awards been made into a complicated mockery with a new-best-player-in-the-world trophy handed out seemingly weekly.
It’s a question with little answers.
But one we’re sure will one day land Ben Lowe with the Golden Goose.
