NRL: Warriors coach Nathan Brown signals early Shaun Johnson return from injury

Shaun Johnson during a Warriors training session. Photo / Photosport

Warriors coach Nathan Brown says Shaun Johnson is "more likely than unlikely" to feature in Saturday's clash with the Broncos.

After damaging his pectoral muscle in the first round loss to the Dragons, the 31-year-old was expected to be out for up to a month.

But he has recovered ahead of schedule and was named on the extended bench on Tuesday, with Brown saying Johnson took a full part in training on Monday and got through the session well.

The Warriors won't be taking any chances with their senior playmaker but are optimistic.

"He's much more likely than unlikely," said Brown "He certainly wouldn't be playing if he wasn't 100 per cent fit and he's still got to tick a couple of boxes [but] we're expecting him to be okay."

His likely inclusion will prompt another spine reshuffle and mean that the Warriors could have their fourth different halves combination in the space of four rounds, with either Chanel Harris-Tavita or Kodi Nikorima making way from the starting thirteen.

"We have got a bit of a decision to make there," admitted Brown.

The coach said that Harris-Tavita had turned himself into "a bit of a utility player" in the pre-season while Nikorima has always been versatile.

Nikorima struggled in round one and was dropped, after getting the nod following a good performance in the All Stars game, while Harris-Tavita had an off-colour game against the Tigers after an encouraging display the previous week on the Gold Coast.

"We certainly don't want to be changing combinations very much and changing people from one side of the field to the other," said Brown. "But we'll work our way through that when we know Shaun's 100 per cent."

Johnson's return would be a considerable boost. Though he had some sloppy moments in round one, it was more sweet than sour and his kicking game and general organisation was sorely missed over the last two weeks, while he is the most creative player at the club.

Overall, it's been an underwhelming start to the season, but Brown is confident they are on the right track and the gains made in pre-season will soon manifest on the field.

As an example, he pointed out that last Friday's effort to hang on the last 10 minutes against the Tigers despite being reduced to 12 men was a sign of their improved conditioning.

Brown also said that the round two performance against the Gold Coast, aside from a lapse early in the first half, was encouraging.

"I thought after that game we would come out last week and play better than we did," said Brown, when asked if they are far away from clicking. "So I can't give you a guarantee. But we know what we need to do and hopefully this week we [have a] group of people that actually play pretty solid rather than get such a big fluctuation in performance from individuals."