League: Johnson comes of age

Shaun Johnson of New Zealand beats the defence of Cooper Cronk of Australia during the Four Nations Final between the New Zealand Kiwis and the Australian Kangaroos. Photo / Getty Images.

Kiwis halfback Shaun Johnson has often talked about wanting to mature as a player. Tonight, he came of age.

The 24-year-old produced a five-star man-of-the-match display to help lift the Kiwis to Four Nations victory over the Kangaroos.

He played a leading hand in Manu Vatuvei's first four-pointer before scoring a brilliant individual second-half try to push the Kiwis' lead out to 18-12.

Two sideline conversions and a penalty capped his scoring efforts but it was his mental and physical toughness that shone through on a golden night for the Kiwis.

For so long Johnson has carried the hopes of New Zealand fans, both with the Warriors in the NRL and at test level, but he hasn't always delivered.

But at Westpac Stadium, on one of the game's biggest stages and against New Zealand's biggest rival, Johnson's magic carried the Kiwis to the first tournament success since their 2010 Four Nations win.

He stepped, he bombed, he organised and he kicked a couple of sideline conversions. His challenge now will be to produce that sort of display more often.

With the Kiwis hanging on to an 8-6 lead 15 minutes from halftime, he kicked into gear, evading four defenders before firing a 30m missile pass out for Vatuvei to pick off his bootlaces and steam in to score just inside the left touchline.

The Kangaroos made it their mission to target him in the second-half, and three late hits saw him drilled into the turf after he unleashed towering kicks, only for the match officials to turn a blind eye.

Undeterred, he kept at his work but took a bad option when he tried to outpace Michael Jennings only to be dragged over the sideline, and with the Kangaroos having fought back to with two points things looked ominous for the Kiwis.

However, right when his side needed him to stand up and pull something out of the bag, he did, gassing the Australian defence on the outside to race 30m for a scorching try as the game entered the final quarter.

His efforts overshadowed another fantastic contribution of the Kiwis forward pack, and another stellar effort from the interchange bench.

As they have done throughout the tournament, the Kiwis' big men injected plenty of fire and energy into their play, with the efforts of Martin Taupau, Greg Eastwood and Tohu Harris helping swing momentum back the home side's way throughout a tense second quarter.

Their relentless play was crucial in countering the Kangaroos' fast start and shortly after the trio arrived on the park the Kiwis levelled through Jason Nightingales four-pointer in the 22nd minute.

On the back of that score the Kiwis enjoyed five sets to Australia's one, spending the bulk of that time camped down in green-and-gold territory.

The visitors had little response to the Kiwis' dynamic running - bar the fearless efforts of replacement forward David Klemmer - as New Zealand's big men began to take charge in the middle of the park.

They went into the sheds with all the momentum but a brilliant response from the world champions saw the margin narrow again before Johnson worked to conjure a memorable victory for New Zealand rugby league.