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June 9, 2025 12 mins

Warriors legend Shaun Johnson will be back on our screens – this time, without a rugby ball in hand. 

He’s supercharging his fledgling media career, fronting a new weekly TV show dedicated to the analysis of rugby league. 

Johnson signed a new deal with Sky TV for ‘League Lounge’, which launches Wednesday, and will broadcast on Sky and Sky Sport Now, with delayed release on Sky Open and YouTube.  

He told Mike Hosking he wants to speak to what the audience might be feeling and seeing from the game and help educate them. 

Johnson says that if he can offer a bit of perspective as to what may be going on with players’ performances, it might buy a bit of time to start seeing better results. 

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Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Sewan Johnson's in the middle of answering the question as
to what it is you do when you retire from
top level sport. In his case, it's get a television
show about the sport you love. Australian television produces things
like The Late Show with Maddie John's of course, or
n RL three sixty for local flavor. As of tomorrow
night on Sky we will have League Lounge and Seawan
Johnson is with us. Good to see you now, First

(00:21):
of all, let's talk about the team before we talk
about you. The team this year, you've got to be
thoroughly enjoying what's unfolding.

Speaker 2 (00:27):
Yeah, it certainly makes creating a league show midweek a
little bit easier when the local team is doing their
part in building the hype around our game. You know,
like it's a I feel like the growth of rugby
league over the last maybe three four years or maybe
since we returned from COVID has this been on a
rapid rise. And what the boys are doing this year

(00:49):
is just doubling down on that. So really really good
to see and really enjoyable to watch.

Speaker 1 (00:55):
Can you succimply explain what's happen? Is it Webster. Is
it a combination of things that all of the potential
you guys have had for seemingly ever has now seemingly
come to fruition on the field.

Speaker 2 (01:10):
Well, I don't. I feel like our twenty three season
was pretty special. Now you can quickly forget about that,
I guess in the months in the midst of history,
you know, with what you're seeing from the boys right now.
But this hasn't been like an off season thing. This
has been Weby has been at the Helm now for
his third season, and he is really starting to implement

(01:33):
the things he believes in and the style he wants
to play. Now, it's not just one thing, but I
generally think Webby's at the head of it. I think
he is slowly filtering down throughout the whole club his philosophy,
his energy, the way he approaches the game, and what
he believes wins footy games.

Speaker 1 (01:50):
So he has a special something about him. Do you
see that there are certain people have this sort of
a genus acquira vibe about them that's a bit different.
He's like that.

Speaker 2 (01:58):
Yered percent biggest advocate for him being a people's first
coach as opposed to a rugby league first coach. I
think he values the importance of teen chemistry and culture
as much as he does skill work or fitness, and
I don't know if a lot of coaches out there do.

(02:19):
So he's got that. He's got that straight away, and
then he's built a roster with you know, other people
involved with the club that like have got this depth
to the group. You know, we've seen that with certain
boys missing out or injuries and people just being next
maned up mentality and going out there and getting it done.

Speaker 1 (02:39):
A game we played where significant names haven't been missing
and therefore we still win.

Speaker 2 (02:43):
Yeah. Yeah, it's a special it's a special trait to have,
and it's going to take you a long season.

Speaker 1 (02:48):
So the controversial question I have for you this morning,
Shawn Johnson, is your replacement Metcalf cannot kick. It's sixty
ish percent and there will be a point in the
season where where you've left six on the table and
you needed them. What do you do?

Speaker 2 (03:10):
I think, my honesty, I think you persist because he's
the best kicker in the club. It's that simple, right,
He's the best kicker in the club. And I think
if there's a game to be one, I always resorted
back to that, like, what game this year needed to
be one he stepped up from fifty meters out and
slotted it. Yeah, okay, So that all these reps he's

(03:31):
currently going through, and this is the bit that people
at home probably miss is he hasn't been a first
grade kicker where he's had to goal kick off the
back of doing eighty percent of the general play kicking. Right,
you know, he's been a six the last three years
where he's kicked the ball three times during the game.

Speaker 1 (03:47):
So it'll get better.

Speaker 2 (03:48):
It'll get better one hundred percent will get better, and
it gets better through in game reps, not practice. Practice helps.
Practice is important, but in game reps is where he
is going to bank and then come the back end
of the year, he's going to I know it.

Speaker 1 (04:00):
I hope you're right because I saw it two games
ago where because most tries and league I suddenly thought
about this the other day because it's been perplexing me.
Most tries and legual around on the wing, aren't they
You're very rare to see someone go right up in
the middle and you can so you're out on the side.
And then two games ago you started to turn it
and you could see him turning it in and it's
it's it's coming. So maybe you're right.

Speaker 2 (04:21):
This is so good because this is exactly what I
want to do on the League lounge.

Speaker 1 (04:25):
There you go, that's crazy, you know.

Speaker 2 (04:27):
I want to speak, you know, to what you're feeling,
what you're seeing. I want to speak to what maybe
your audience is feeling and seeing from the game. You know,
I want to help educate so that maybe our takes
on that and how we talk about these players is
slightly adjusted, you know, I think it's important. So just
having that conversation right there with you is exactly.

Speaker 1 (04:45):
And how do you deal with well, I mean, you've
got a lot of haters in general and sport, haven't you,
Or you've got a lot of ignorant and or haters.
How do you deal with that?

Speaker 2 (04:52):
Education? Education? I feel like, you know, say, say someone
just listened to what you just said around Luke Metcalf
can't kick, And I wasn't here to maybe put a
little bit of context on that. Correct, they go to
the work site or their workplace and go, ah, Luke
Metcalf can't kick. Because your word is valuable, right, you're

(05:14):
trusted in the space yes, So if I can help
off a bit of perspective and to maybe what's going
on with that. It's not an excuse, but it just
might buy a bit of time to start seeing these results. Now.
At points in my career, I was kicking at sixty percent, right,
But I had a feeling by the end of my career,
if there's a kick to win the game, who did
people want to take it? You?

Speaker 1 (05:35):
So, but you've got about Well, let me give you
a piece of advice as a broadcaster, and that is
you don't want to be an apologist for the team
that you will once with. Nah, So you've got your glass.
You got to strike that balance, Yeah, between correcting me
and then being an apologist for the Warriors, because there
were sometimes where they need to kick up the.

Speaker 2 (05:54):
Yeah, one hundred percent, and if that's the case, I
will give it to them, but I still feel like
I can give it to them in a different light,
you know what I mean. So, yeah, that's that's essentially
what the League Lounge is going to be, you know,
entertaining but educational and offer insight and some of the
guests will you know, we'll have on the couch along
with me. I don't think people will have seen them
in that way. So the whole package, Yeah, it's gonna

(06:17):
be it's gonna be a cool it's gonna be a
cool thing to I guess, be a part.

Speaker 1 (06:20):
Of the League Lounge tomorrow night on Sky. Shawn Johnson
is the is the creative genius behind it. Which is
interesting because you were telling me off here before we
started that this is this is you, this is not
They've just hired you for the show and you now
host it, so this is your thing.

Speaker 2 (06:35):
Yeah, yeah, I think you know, for me to commit
to something can be proud of it. I have to
know it's a true reflection, you know, of me as
a person, and Sky have come well and truly to
the party with allowing me to do that. It's been
a collaborative process, which is unusual. Usually it's what the
old traditional method of Sky produce a show, higher talent

(06:55):
just do it. But nah, this was this was a
little bit different, and I'm keen to show and I
think think, well, I hope people at home when they
tune in will feel that straight away, even just from
the intro, the sound of the intro, the look of
the set, everything will just feel a little bit different
to I guess maybe what you're usually going to see
on Sky.

Speaker 1 (07:11):
Have you got any sense whether you're any good?

Speaker 2 (07:13):
No? No, No, that'll be a that'll be a work
in progress, day to day, week to week. No, I'm
not trying. I know it's the League Lounge with Sean
Johnson and I am the host, But I don't think
I'm going to be your traditional hosts that you will see.
I'm a little bit on edge about that, but I
think it's going to be fun and I'll just continue
to be me while doing it.

Speaker 1 (07:31):
Are you self critical? Are you good at that sort
of thing? Oh?

Speaker 2 (07:34):
Yeah? On My biggest critic I was when I was
playing often I'd have all this outside noise and none
of it really mattered because my own opinion was in
the opinion of my teammates, you know, was important. So
it's the same now. My own opinion of my performance
as a host and the opinion of the people under
that Sky banner are important. So yeah, it's gonna gonna

(07:55):
review performance. I'm going to continue to look to improve
and continue just to just be myself is going to
be the main one.

Speaker 1 (08:02):
Yeah, what was the plan when you retired? What was
the plan post league.

Speaker 2 (08:07):
Post league was I always liked the media space, you know,
I always had an opinion on how things were done
or what was missing. Now did I think I was
going to have my own show this early? No way.
But I've found just by being myself and offering my
takes and perspective and insights that it's been received really well.

(08:28):
And I said earlier, I've actually probably got more positive
feedback since I've retired than I did throughout my playing career,
which is pretty pretty crazy. I feel generally more loved
right now, which is a nice feeling. I'm certainly I
certainly appreciative of that than when I was playing. So
that's a space I feel passionate about, you know, And

(08:48):
that was always in the back of my mind when
I retired.

Speaker 1 (08:51):
How much because you're only in mid thies, thirty four
years old, you've got a lot of life still to
do stuff. How much thought during your time did you
give to what might be Yeah?

Speaker 2 (09:01):
A lot, a lot. And I encourage I encourage players,
you know, currently you know, thinking about retirement, to start
implementing a few things that will just sort of get
you out of bed each day. Hey, because there's a
lot of horror stories around explayers retiring and the struggles
and the battles they go through. But maybe what made
this a little bit smoother was the fact it was
my choice, my decision. I didn't get forced out, and

(09:22):
I wanted to do it on my own terms. So
I had to have, you know, one or two things
in place just to get me up every day, to
offer myself some sort of structure, because stepping out of
that space where you've had that the last ten fifteen
years can be pretty daunting. And no regrets, No regrets, man,
No regrets. Look, I love watching the boys, and I
am I a little bit jealous at times around seeing

(09:42):
you know them when one hundred percent. I don't know
if that'll ever leave. But I'm very much aware that
what we see for eighty minutes is the tip of
the iceberg, right and everything underneath that is essentially what
I wasn't prepared to do anymore, son, No regrets, Loving
what I'm doing. I'm really excited about this next juney.

Speaker 1 (10:01):
With do you want to be? How involved I've seen
you like in Vegas. You were going across to Vegas
at the start of the season, all this and stuff
how involved with the team are you still?

Speaker 2 (10:09):
No? Not not very not very not. Not from a
performance standpoint. I've got great relationships with the boys, Still
catch up for coffees midweek, yarn soundboard anything that they've got,
luy luky met something I had a lot to do
do with over the last few years. And I'm still
very much a soundboard for firm if he needs it.
But god damn no, none of them need me. Look
at the way they're going, it's like that.

Speaker 1 (10:31):
But do you see yourself in the game at some
point in the future.

Speaker 2 (10:36):
Oh, man, Look, I'd never say never. Is that a
fair ants I never say never right now. I've got
no aspirations. No, you know, am I passionate about passing
some of the stuff I learned and had to go
through onto some of the younger boys coming through. That
might just help them navigate what they're about to feel sure,
one percent, I am passionate about that. I've got some
things I'm working on, some other things away from media

(10:57):
in the league lounge that might help me deliver that.
So that's in the background, brewing away. But in terms
of coaching or you know, that's some sort of no, man,
I got no, no, no thought.

Speaker 1 (11:09):
It's a good place to be there right right, the
wrongly good, it's a good place to be. What do
you do for fitness in terms of.

Speaker 2 (11:17):
I put my back out, putting my socks on the
other day, No.

Speaker 1 (11:20):
I'm not.

Speaker 2 (11:21):
I'm so I am a woeful at encouraging myself to
get up and do something for you.

Speaker 1 (11:25):
Still look in good shape though, so yeah, you obviously
have to let yourself go.

Speaker 2 (11:28):
No, I eat well, I think you know, my diets.
It's just part of me, right, That's just the way
I've eaten for a long time. So it's not I enjoy.
I enjoy, you know, my fast foods every now and there,
enjoy a beer every now and then. But it's all
in moderation. But I'll slowly, I've starting to get to
that point now where it's been a couple of months
where I haven't done anything, and I'm like you, you're

(11:48):
disgusting human. You need to get going again. So I'm
going to start finding a gym, finding a bit of routine.

Speaker 1 (11:53):
Good on you, well, good luck tomorrow night, and I'm
sure it will go well and we'll catch up with
your mid season or the end of the season or
whatever and talks more about it.

Speaker 2 (12:01):
I appreciate it.

Speaker 1 (12:01):
Thanks having nicely Sean Johnson.

Speaker 2 (12:04):
For more from the Mic Asking Breakfast, Listen live to
news talks.

Speaker 1 (12:07):
It'd be from six am weekdays, or follow the podcast
on iHeartRadio
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