Shaun Johnson says learning to not just block out but also absorb the noise around his play has been one of the key contributions to his sensational form this season.
Johnson remains a front runner for this year's Dally M Medal with just two rounds to go in the NRL season, having turned back the clock to produce some of his best performances and guide the Warriors to an all-but-secured top-four finish.
The 32-year-old leads the competition in try assists this year with 25 in 22 games [for contrast, he had just 14 assists in 21 matches last year when the Warriors finished 15th] and also leads multiple kicking categories.
His play has been praised heavily and Johnson admitted he's been hearing it - including the Dally M chatter.
"I could give you a really cliché answer and say, 'no, that's all background noise and my focus is here' but [I hear it] 100 per cent," Johnson said.
"I do a lot of work with a guy called Dan Haesler around my mental approach and blocking out - or absorbing - what energy is going to be beneficial to me playing well.
"This year in particular I've had to knuckle down on it more than ever."
Johnson added the "noise" comes from all aspects of his life too, not just fans or commentators, and he's been working on it since 2018 when he joined the Sharks after a high-profile exit from the Warriors.
"I hear the conversations, I get tagged in things, I've got family who just want to talk about it all the time," he said.
"My dad has always been my biggest fan and he's telling me how many points I'm off from being a Kiwi top scorer and all this stuff.
"It's always there but for me to be able to absorb the information that's going to help me play well and then narrow my focus and park it is something I'm always working at."
While recently that energy has been mostly positive, Johnson admitted ahead of his 250th NRL game he also knows about and remembers the negativity that has surfaced during different stages of his career.
But that energy has never been a motivator for him.
"I've always enjoyed proving the people that have supported me right. I've never played the game out of spite or for people telling me I should retire or that I'm past it or washed up and I don't go out there and say, 'I want to prove you wrong'.
"I've always wanted to play for my close support group who have always had belief in me and it's nice to see them really enjoying these moments too where the noise around me is positive.
"I love seeing them happy with that."
Included in that positivity has been talk of a recall for the Kiwis having played the last of his 32 Tests for New Zealand in 2019 but that was one area he wasn't focused on.
"The Kiwis stuff is there in the background and I've had a little bit of conversation with people around that but to be honest, it's hard for me to talk about that right now with what we've got going on here and that's obviously where my focus lies.
"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it, but if I continue to play at a level that I'm happy with, we'll see what happens there."
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