As he prepares to wave goodbye to the club where it all started, Shaun Johnson is keeping his emotions in check for his Mt Smart farewell.

On Friday, Johnson will run out at Go Media Stadium for the last time when the Warriors host the Canterbury Bulldogs in their penultimate fixture of 2024.

The 33-year-old will hang up his boots at the end of the season, which is now confirmed to be against the Cronulla Sharks on August 31, given the Warriors’ mathematical hopes of a top-eight finish were ended by the Manly Sea Eagles.

Now, with no finals football until 2025 at the earliest, Johnson knows for certain when his last game will be. Since deciding to retire, Johnson has known his last game in front of his home support would come.

However, that hasn’t made it any easier for him as he prepares to say goodbye for the last time.

“It’s a bit of a weird sort of feeling,” Johnson said. “I actually don’t like to think about it.

“I just miss it, I know I’ll miss it. I already have the feelings of what it will be like coming here for one last time. I’ve got family coming back from Australia for it, family coming up from Christchurch for it.

“It’s definitely going to be a moment that as a family we’re going to cherish.

“But for me, it’s going to be sad, I’m going to be gutted. But we’ll get out there and try to win a game of footy as well.”

Rightly or wrongly, Johnson has had to endure more than most during his time with the Warriors.

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Since his first-grade debut in 2011, Johnson has made 222 appearances for the Warriors. Only Simon Mannering (301) and Stacey Jones (269) have made more, while Johnson tops the club’s record points scorers list with 1211.

But after leading the club to a grand final defeat in his first season, Johnson’s first stint with the Warriors saw him criticised more than arguably what was fair, before he left in 2018 to join the Sharks.

However, 2023 saw the best of Johnson, as he ignited the Warriors’ return to the top eight, before he missed out on the Dally M Medal, the award for the best player in the NRL, to Kalyn Ponga.

And while there have been hordes of new fans getting on board with the Warriors since the start of last year - including selling out every home game in 2024 - Johnson took time to thank those who’ve been there from the start.

Shaun Johnson celebrates against the Cronulla Sharks, 2023. Photo / Photosport

“There’s certainly a high level of appreciation for the support as a team that we’ve received, week in, week out this year.

“For me, personally, over the years, a lot of the people who sit in the stands have been there since I came to the club. There are faces that I recognise every week. That’s not lost on me.

“It means just as much to me to run out and play in front of them, and perform in front of them as it does for them to come and cheer us on.

“I’m definitely going to miss it, but I’ll do my best to enjoy this week, enjoy running out there and just try to absorb as much as I can.”

With two games to go before the end of his career, Johnson is already planning for what comes next.

He’s already started his own podcast, but says he hopes to stay on at the Warriors in some capacity.

But while the next chapter is already, in a sense, under way, the end of the current one won’t be easy.

“It’s a real sense of home, for me. I’ve been coming here since I was 17. It’s just going to be sad, that’s the only way I can put it. I’m not going to act like it’s all roses.

“It’s going to be sad I don’t come in here in this capacity anymore. It was a journey I never thought would end.

“I wouldn’t say I ever took it for granted, but it’s just the norm. It’s just what I did every day, without an end in sight.

“This place is home to me, and although I’m going to finish up playing, I still want to have a role and have input into helping out in a different way to create success here.”

Alex Powell is an Online Sports Editor for the NZ Herald. He has been a sports journalist since 2016, and previously worked for both Newshub and 1News.