A gutted Shaun Johnson insists he does not feel robbed of winning a maiden Dally M Medal, despite teammate Jazz Tevaga taking to social media to claim he was.
Johnson had entered Wednesday as the firm favourite after a superb NRL season, in which he returned the Warriors to the preliminary finals.
The Kiwi halfback led the count from round 20, before being pipped by Kalyn Ponga when the Newcastle fullback scored six points in round 26 to Johnson's five.
The majority of controversy centred around Johnson not receiving votes in the 29-22 defeat of Manly in round 25, despite setting up a try and kicking the match-winning field goal.
It capped a tough week for the Warriors, who were beaten in the preliminary final amid questions over a Reece Walsh forward pass before a Brisbane try.
"Congrats Kalyn but everyone knows it, SJ was robbed," Tevaga posted on a now-deleted Instagram story.
"This is almost as bad as that forward pass."
But Johnson insisted that was not the case.
"I wasn't (robbed)," Johnson said.
"I thought Kalyn had a great year. He was the centrepiece of the Knights going on their run.
"It was a really special run that he went on, so if there was going to be a person I thought that was going to get it, I thought it was going to be him."
Johnson said he had not initially believed he would be a chance of winning the award, but after holding the lead late he had begun to believe it was possible.
"As the night goes on, and they string you along and it gets your heart racing, I'm like 'maybe I am a genuine chance of winning it'," Johnson said.
"At some point in the night I started (thinking) about it, and I was like, 'far out this is pretty cool recognition'.
"Obviously gutted I didn't walk away with it because it would have been cool to have."
Regardless, Johnson's rise to his first Dally M halfback of the year award is a remarkable one given the 33-year-old admitted his career looked over after a tough few seasons.
"Last year, I was ready to call it. I was done. I was like, 'this isn't what I remember rugby league to me'," he said.
"In the pre-season ... I was OK with the fact that I might not be signing on for another year at the Warriors. It was a reality."
Re-signed for next year, Johnson said he would not make himself available for the end-of-year Pacific Championship for New Zealand, needing a post-season break.
"I don't ever turn down the opportunity to represent my country. And I think a lot of people who know me know that," Johnson said.
"This was a very hard decision, but one that I'm very comfortable with. I'm just going to enjoy some time with the family.
"I really feel like I do need a break."
