NRL great Shaun Johnson reveals he came close to joining All Blacks Sevens in his mid-20s

Shaun Johnson, one of the NRL’s most celebrated halfbacks, has revealed he held serious discussions with All Blacks Sevens coach Gordon Tietjens about a code switch during the prime of his career — describing it as “the closest I ever got to moving away from league.”

Johnson made the disclosure on the Backstage with Cooper & Matty Johns podcast, clarifying that the opportunity was never about joining the All Blacks in the Test arena but specifically the sevens programme. “I remember we had a chat with Gordon Tietjens about going to the sevens,” he said, naming the man widely regarded as the greatest sevens coach of all time as the figure who sat down with him in his mid-20s to explore the move.

The New Zealand-born playmaker went on to play more than 265 NRL matches across two stints with the New Zealand Warriors and a spell with the Cronulla Sharks, as well as representing the New Zealand Kiwis on 35 occasions. He was part of the Warriors side that reached the 2011 NRL Grand Final as a rookie and won the International Rugby League Golden Boot Award in 2014, following in the footsteps of compatriot Benji Marshall.

The Tietjens talks were not the only time Johnson flirted with a move away from league. Multiple outlets reported in 2021 that he had spoken with former Wallabies coach Michael Cheika about a potential opportunity in what was then the Japan Top League. Johnson has now elaborated on the substance of those conversations.

“I had a really good chat with Cheika and he pitched me this idea of actually wanting to implement rugby league structures and shape into union,” Johnson said. “He said there’s no better place to sample some of this stuff than over in Japan and that’s where he was bringing me in for.”

Johnson acknowledged the appeal of the concept. “That would have been something. That would’ve been cool,” he added. Cheika, who has recently signed on to coach the NSW Waratahs, evidently believed Johnson’s league background could have offered something distinctive to the union game.

In the end, Johnson remained in the NRL for the entirety of his playing career before retiring, leaving rugby fans to wonder what might have been had either the Tietjens or Cheika conversations led somewhere more concrete.