Halfback earning right to perform his magic

Like every playmaker, Shaun Johnson needs room to move. Photo / Getty Images

The run-in for the NRL season is coming at just the right time for Shaun Johnson.

He's demonstrating a new maturity in his play, and the Warriors halfback is now creating his own space.

Like every playmaker, Johnson needs room to move.

That's happened more over the past two weeks, thanks partly to a superior kicking game from Johnson (along with Chad Townsend). He's doing those things right, whether it is long-range touch finders or threading the needle into the goal.

The Warriors' territorial play has improved considerably and that pays dividends; the repeat sets, the pressure, the tackling workload means that defensive lines become fractured and there is probably no one better in the NRL at exploiting a tired defence than Johnson.

Along with his team, he's earning the right to play, and do his magic, from hard work.

Without going too over the top, there is a nice balance about the Warriors now. Townsend leads a more structured attack on the left edge while Johnson is given more freedom to play on the right flank, which is often the unpredictable side.

Sunday will be a new challenge. The Storm will apply more pressure than ever to Johnson - they are masters at that - and he has to be resilient. It's about not getting frustrated, believing in the process and still trying to achieve his goals within the 80 minutes.

Chances will come, eventually, and he has to be there to take them.

The Warriors should be quietly confident ahead of this match. They always lift for the Storm - it's become one of the marquee clashes every year - and have recorded several famous victories. Billy Slater is a big loss for the Melbourne team, who have to rely on a lot of young players around their Big Three. Cameron Smith and Cooper Cronk will step up as they always do, even after their Origin heroics on Wednesday night. However, the key might be their Kiwi trio of Jesse Bromwich, Kevin Proctor and Tohu Harris. If those three fire, the Storm will be hard to beat.

Meanwhile, it was an intriguing - and highly impressive - performance from Queensland on Wednesday night. Much was made of their age leading into the decider but they were always going to fire for one game, and they picked the best time.

As a New South Wales fan, it was disappointing to see the lack of variety from the Blues.

When the game was in the balance in the first half - before the Maroon onslaught - they kept going up the middle, with no profit. They seemed reluctant to get the ball to the edges and were cannon fodder for the fired-up Queensland pack.