{"id":85471,"date":"2021-06-15T09:15:34","date_gmt":"2021-06-15T09:15:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=85471"},"modified":"2021-06-15T13:06:51","modified_gmt":"2021-06-15T13:06:51","slug":"sterlo-backs-unwanted-ace-to-land-at-new-club","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=85471","title":{"rendered":"Sterlo backs unwanted ace to land at new club"},"content":{"rendered":"

Legendary Eels halfback Peter Sterling says he has "no doubt" discarded Sharks veteran Shaun Johnson<\/a> will link with a new club, branding the playmaker "a wonderful buy" on the right money.<\/p>\n

The 32-Test New Zealand crowd favourite was recently told by Cronulla that his contract wouldn't be renewed for 2022, leaving him on the search for his third NRL club.<\/p>\n

Several days after a Johnson field goal lifted the Sharks to a 19-18 victory over the Panthers at Kogarah Oval<\/a>, Sterling gave a host of reasons why the former Warrior would find a new home.<\/p>\n

"He'll get picked up. I have no doubt about that. He did come out on the weekend and say, 'I'm not looking for $900,000'. If you get Shaun Johnson at the right price he's a wonderful buy," Sterling said on Wide World of Sports' Sterlo's Wrap<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

"He's been a class player for a long, long time.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

"There's been criticism that he hasn't helped the club get to a premiership and win one and maybe his form has dipped at times.<\/p>\n

"You look at the fact that he is 30 years of age and he comes off an Achilles problem, as well, so he's not going to be the Shaun Johnson he was when he was a 21-year-old.<\/p>\n

"But he still offers so much. He's a good citizen, knows the game intimately. I'm a fan. At the right price, if you need a halfback who can play a lot of different roles then Shaun Johnson's your man. He will get picked up."<\/p>\n

\"Sterlo's<\/p>\n

Johnson combined his match-winning field goal against Penrith with two line-break assists and 604 kick metres, controlling the game as Cronulla clinched their third victory in a row.<\/p>\n

Sterling pointed out a passage of play late in the Sharks win in which he laid the foundation for the field goal, fooling Matt Burton and Scott Sorensen with a dummy and linking with winger Connor Tracey, who hurtled into Panthers territory.<\/p>\n

"Not just the field goal on the weekend, but he was the man who put them in the position to actually kick the field goal by creating on the right-hand side," Sterling said.<\/p>\n

Johnson's field goal was an ugly one, wobbling off his right boot from 36 metres out and just sneaking through the bottom right-hand corner.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Sterling saw the funny side of it.<\/p>\n

"The dummy, getting through, finding Connor Tracey on his outside and then a couple of rucks later he gets in the position to absolutely nail this one," Sterling laughed.<\/p>\n

"He knew exactly where it was going – down that bottom right-hand corner of the uprights.<\/p>\n

"It wasn't just the fact that he iced it with the kick; he was the man that initiated the movement to put them in a position to win that game."<\/p>\n

Storm gun Nicho Hynes<\/a> will arrive at the Sharks on a three-year deal worth a reported $1.8 million, effectively taking Johnson's spot.<\/p>\n

Former NSW State of Origin enigma Matt Moylan is turning in strong performances at five-eighth as he chases a new contract with Cronulla.<\/p>\n

Playmaker Chad Townsend<\/a>, who's set to join the Cowboys after this season, is out of favour with interim coach Josh Hannay.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by<\/strong><\/em> clicking here!<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Legendary Eels halfback Peter Sterling says he has "no doubt" discarded Sharks veteran Shaun Johnson will link with a new club, branding the playmaker "a […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85471"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=85471"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85471\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":85473,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85471\/revisions\/85473"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=85471"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=85471"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=85471"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}