2009 would be Johnson's last season at Melbourne. After the end of the season he signed a three-year contract with the French club Catalans Dragons in the Super League. His final season for Melbourne was a success: he played in the Storm's grand final win over the Parramatta Eels although, as in 2007, the Storm were later stripped of their premiership due to large-scale breaches of the league's salary cap. Johnson again played in all three matches of the State of Origin series, as Queensland won their fourth series in a row. He scored the opening try in the third match, his first in State of Origin, when he fell onto a Johnathan Thurston grubber kick.