Pacific Championships: Johnson breaks silence on potential Kiwis return

Retired NRL star Shaun Johnson has broken his silence on a potential return for the New Zealand Kiwis at the upcoming 2024 Pacific Championships.

Aiming to defend their title after last year's upset against the Australian Kangaroos, the Kiwis have undergone a coaching change, with Stacey Jones taking over the coaching reigns from Michael Maguire.

Due to injuries to Dylan Brown and Kieran Foran, Jones revealed last week that he didn't rule out selecting Johnson and calling him out of retirement to play in the halves.

Hanging up the boots on his NRL career at the end of this season, Johnson hasn't played for the Kiwis since 2019 when he scored one try against Great Britain in Christchurch in a 23-8 victory.

Regarding the potential selection, Johnson confirmed that he would not be playing unless Dally M favourite Jahrome Hughes sustains an injury in the season's final two weeks.

However, if an injury does arise to Hughes, the former New Zealand Warriors and Cronulla Sharks halfback admitted that he would "never ever say no to representing the Kiwis".

"I'm not playing, but I really did have a really good conversation with Stace," Johnson said on the Play On Sports Show.

"It was more around the fact that, say, if Jahrome went down - touch wood, he's on fire and he's got a couple of big games to come up - then they'd be in a real pickle.

"But if something were to change there, then I would never say no to that opportunity. I would never ever say no to representing the Kiwis."