Mercurial halfback Shaun Johnson will pick his moments to play his hand when he makes his Kiwi rugby league Test debut against the Kangaroos in Auckland on Friday night.

The 21-year-old Aucklander will partner another flair-laden operator, skipper Benji Marshall, in the halves against the Kangaroos at Eden Park.

But he cautions against expecting razzle-dazzle football at every opportunity, with the Kiwis needing to ensure they lay the platform up front first.

“A lot of people are talking about all the attacking and the flashy sort of thing,” he said on Tuesday.

“But we have to earn the right to get into the sort of position where we can do that. I’m just looking at doing my role, kick well, defend strong.”

At the same time, Johnson said coach Stephen Kearney hadn’t put any clamps on him.

“Not at all – he’s made it pretty clear that, if you see something, you play it,” he said.

“He’s not taking anything away from my game. If it’s on, it’s on. If not, then we stick to the game plan.”

Johnson had been in line to make his Test debut late last year after just half a season in the NRL with the Warriors, but pulled out of the Kiwi squad with a back complaint.

He admitted he had been preparing to watch the upcoming encounter from the sidelines, until Manly’s Kieran Foran became unavailable because of a hamstring injury.

He had always hoped to play alongside Marshall, “but for it to be so soon is pretty unreal”.

In the brief time in camp this week, he would look to learn as much as he could from his 25-Test captain, in particular his reading of the game.

But Johnson batted away suggestions that he is the next Benji Marshall.

“There’s not going to be a next Benji – there’s only going to be one Benji,” he said.

“I’m my own person. I want to track my own path. I’m certainly going to take in everything he says and maybe learn bits of his game, but I won’t be the next Benji.”