Former player and current rugby league analyst Matthew Johns has revealed he has been contacted by a third party acting on behalf of an NRL club to gauge his appetite in taking up a head coaching role.
Johns has long been touted as a potential head coach.
He reads the game as well as anyone currently in the media, and has acted as a consultant for clubs and the New South Wales State of Origin team at times in recent years.
Currently holding a role with Fox Sports, Johns's contract, per a News Corp report, is due to wind up at the end of the year and there is no guarantee he will renew it.
Instead, it has been revealed by Johns that he would be open to coaching if a club were 'silly enough' to pay him what he is asking.
"I've had a bit of an approach from a third party acting for a club who asked if there was any interest and would I consider it," Johns revealed to the publication.
"I put it back on them โฆ โlet me know what it's worth and then I'll come and have a coffee'.
"If they're silly enough to pay me what I'd be asking for, I might be silly enough to do it."
Johns previously suggested head coaching wasn't going to be for him given the stress and pressure involved with the job, but he now admits it's something he'd weigh up for the challenge, and the report suggests those close to him have confirmed Johns is keen to have a go.
"It's a long shot but, absolutely I'd like to do it. There's nothing that could give you more satisfaction than seeing players and teams improve," he said.
The former five-eighth played 176 NRL games for the Newcastle Knights between 1992 and 2000, and another 21 for the Cronulla Sharks in 2022, with a 25-game stint for the Wigan Warriors in the English Super League in between.
He played nine Tests for Australia and four State of Origins for the Blues throughout his career, and has since gone on to forge a successful media career with Channel Nine, Fox Sports and on radio with Triple M Radio and SEN Radio.
