It also wasn't completely off the cuff, as the coaching staff had discussed such a scenario with the halfback in the wake of the golden-point loss to the Sea Eagles, when defenders had ran from an offside position to charge down his drop goal attempt.
"Referees don't blow penalties for offside in golden point so I knew they were always going to get to me," said Johnson. "I learned my lesson from a few weeks ago, actually, where I wish I had done that, just beat that first player and let instinct take over.
"You don't expect to score a try off it but I was glad I could come up with that play. [After I beat the first defender] I looked wide, I knew the defence was going to come in. I pumped the ball, they held off and I went for it ... it was a pretty good feeling."
And extremely important, as Johnson admitted that another extra-time defeat may have had terminal implications for the Warriors' season.
"I don't know where our heads would be at if we had lost that one," he said. "I don't like to think about that one. It's big for us going forward."