Sign up to save your podcasts
Or
Share Monty Betham says Shaun Johnson's saga with Warriors is 'just business'
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Or
Monty Betham says Shaun Johnson's saga with Warriors is 'just business'
Former Warriors captain Monty Betham is warning against reading too much into the Shaun Johnson versus Warriors saga.
Shaun Johnson has requested to be released from the final year of his contract after the Warriors made it clear they are in no rush to re-sign him beyond 2019.
Monty Betham told Mike Hosking it is a hard situation but unfortunately, it's "just business".
"How can you not get emotional about it? When you love the club as much as you do, when you get up on the highs and lows as only the Warriors can do - you get emotional."
"However, having been there as a player myself and having seen some of the greats of the game [...] finish in a way that isn't a fairy tale ending ... it's just business."
He said the process has been messy and has put both sides in tricky positions.
"I don't know if that is actual fact that there is nothing past 2019. I know Shaun has said that but maybe it's nothing in terms of what he was interested in."
"I think you have got one club that is doing the right thing as a business organisation which they should be commended for."
"Then you have got a player as well, who is probably doing the right thing from his standpoint at 28 years of age because not everyone wants to go on one-year contracts to test the waters, to potentially get injured and then your value decreases," he said.
"Everyone is saying Shaun is getting a little bit emotional or his ego is getting in the way but in actual fact, he may be looking at stability. He has never been like this before. He has never had to go year to year and now he is in a position where that might happen."
Betham said it's still unclear whether the Warriors don't want Shaun Johnson playing for them or whether they just don't want to be paying $1 million.
"There are a lot of people out there saying, throughout the year, that Shaun's not worth $1 million. They are saying that one week then the next week he is absolutely worth the $1 million so with the NZ Warriors supporters they are up and down each week, just like the team [so] it is pretty hard."
"It makes it very difficult to escape any pressures especially when you're Shaun Johnson, especially when you have got X actor [and] especially when you have been the face of the Warriors for many years."
View all episodes
By Newstalk ZBFormer Warriors captain Monty Betham is warning against reading too much into the Shaun Johnson versus Warriors saga.
Shaun Johnson has requested to be released from the final year of his contract after the Warriors made it clear they are in no rush to re-sign him beyond 2019.
Monty Betham told Mike Hosking it is a hard situation but unfortunately, it's "just business".
"How can you not get emotional about it? When you love the club as much as you do, when you get up on the highs and lows as only the Warriors can do - you get emotional."
"However, having been there as a player myself and having seen some of the greats of the game [...] finish in a way that isn't a fairy tale ending ... it's just business."
He said the process has been messy and has put both sides in tricky positions.
"I don't know if that is actual fact that there is nothing past 2019. I know Shaun has said that but maybe it's nothing in terms of what he was interested in."
"I think you have got one club that is doing the right thing as a business organisation which they should be commended for."
"Then you have got a player as well, who is probably doing the right thing from his standpoint at 28 years of age because not everyone wants to go on one-year contracts to test the waters, to potentially get injured and then your value decreases," he said.
"Everyone is saying Shaun is getting a little bit emotional or his ego is getting in the way but in actual fact, he may be looking at stability. He has never been like this before. He has never had to go year to year and now he is in a position where that might happen."
Betham said it's still unclear whether the Warriors don't want Shaun Johnson playing for them or whether they just don't want to be paying $1 million.
"There are a lot of people out there saying, throughout the year, that Shaun's not worth $1 million. They are saying that one week then the next week he is absolutely worth the $1 million so with the NZ Warriors supporters they are up and down each week, just like the team [so] it is pretty hard."
"It makes it very difficult to escape any pressures especially when you're Shaun Johnson, especially when you have got X actor [and] especially when you have been the face of the Warriors for many years."