Shaun Johnson savours starring role against old club as Sharks pile misery on Warriors
As much as he feels for his old teammates, that didn't stop Shaun Johnson from putting them to the sword on Sunday. And the Sharks playmaker admitted he had extra motivation for his stellar display in the 46-10 thumping of the Warriors on the Central Coast . Johnson scored a try, ignited a spectacular length-of-the-field touchdown and had a hand in another, while producing a near-flawless performance from the kicking tee for an 18-point haul. It was a powerful reminder of just what the Warriors let walk out the door after Johnson was released a year early from his contract at the end of 2018 . READ MORE: * 'Worst performance of the season': Todd Payten slams Warriors no-show against Sharks * Warriors go from bad to worse as Cronulla Sharks roll to big victory * NRL: Nathan Cleary leads Penrith Panthers to top of table with North Queensland win And while plenty of water has flown under the bridge since his acrimonious departure, it still appears to be a driving force whenever he comes up against his former team. "You play against a club that necessarily didn't want you there and there is a bit more incentive," Johnson told NRL.com . "You want to play well every week but yeah, it was certainly an important game not just for me but for our club." As inconsistent as he was during his eight seasons at Mt Smart, there's an argument the Warriors' attack has never really recovered since the former Golden Boot winner left. They could certainly use a game-breaker of his calibre at the moment, with the side averaging less than 13 points-per-game over the first 10 rounds. That is not his problem any more. Indeed, Johnson has had his fair share of criticism to deal with since joining the Sharks, which reached a peak last month when Storm and Roosters great Cooper Cronk accused him of "firing blanks'' for the Sydney club . That appeared to be a turning point for the 29-year-old, who has sparked a form reversal at Cronulla and currently leads the NRL for try assists with 15. The pressure was back on Johnson and the rest of his side against the Warriors after they were blown off the park by Penrith last week. Sharks coach John Morris was obviously delighted with the response as well as the production he's getting from his star five-eighth this season. "It definitely meant a lot for Shaun. Obviously you always want to play good against your old club but he's been really good for us all year," Morris said. "There's still parts of his game and some errors he'd like to be better at, but he's been much more consistent in many parts of our game, managing our team defensively, and again was influential in some nice tries today. "He showed what he can do with his goal kicking, he's really got that on song as well so I think it was a pretty good win for Shaun against his old mob." The win was the Sharks' fifth of the season, leaving them just outside the top eight ahead of this weekend's clash against the Dragons. The Warriors, meanwhile, remain in 13th place with a daunting challenge against reigning premiers the Roosters on Saturday.