Shaun Johnson is confident he has made the right call retiring from the NRL despite a skilful and emotional comeback for New Zealand in Christchurch. Johnson answered a distress call from the injury-hit Kiwis to lace up the boots for the Pacific Championships after calling time on a storied NRL career at the end of the 2024 season. The 34-year-old could not prevent an improved Australia from lodging a 22-10 win on Sunday but had a superb individual performance without another recognised playmaker by his side.
He triggered the play that netted the Kiwis' first try through Jamayne Isaako and kicked superbly all afternoon, putting up the cross-field bomb that helped Will Warbrick keep their side in the game late. "I felt probably as I expected, probably a little bit underdone," said Johnson, one of 10 Kiwis playing their first game in seven weeks. "The weeks (off) haven't helped me at all.
I've battled niggles all year like a lot of us do and that's been well-documented with my Achilles and obviously falling off that load. "You can't just go from nothing to get there. You've got to build gradual and I haven't had that luxury with the late call-up.
"(But) I'm pretty stoked with how I went tonight. I enjoyed it, I stayed in the moment and I played some good footy at times. Is there things I can work on? 100 per cent, and I will, but for a first hit-out in a while with a lack of reps, I'll take a lot out of it personally.
" Johnson took a moment to survey the crowd on return to the .