New Zealand coach Michael Maguire expects to speak with Sonny Bill Williams about his international allegiance and hopes to have him available for Kiwis selection.

Williams was due to land back in Sydney on Thursday for two weeks in quarantine, before he makes his NRL return for the Sydney Roosters in the lead-up to the NRL finals.

New Zealand do not have any end-of-year Tests locked in but are still hopeful of playing at least two in laste 2020.

Maguire spoke with Williams during last summer on his return to rugby league and has left the door open to him playing for the Kiwis for the first time in seven years.

“He’s coming back and no doubt at some stage depending on how he is playing, he will talk about that space when the time is right,” Maguire said.

“He’ll come back into the game performing the way he can.

“No doubt at some stage that conversation will happen.”

Williams’ form will be of interest for all, given he was very much finding his feet back in the 13-man game when he played five games for the Toronto Wolfpack earlier this year.

But if he’s anywhere near his best, he’s likely to be hot property.

Samoa officials told AAP last year they wanted to approach the dual-international, given his father’s heritage.

“I imagine there will be (a tussle)” Maguire said.

“But I think the Kiwi jersey has given a lot of players a lot of opportunity in the game.

“That’s something we have spoken about as a Kiwi group.

“The Kiwi jersey is the pinnacle for a player. For anyone who puts on that jersey there is a really high expectation now.”

A bigger challenge awaits the Kiwis in trying to get end-of-year Tests confirmed.

Ideally they would like to play at least two: one against Tonga and another against the Kangaroos after the November State of Origin series.

But even those could be problematic, with a game in New Zealand likely out of the question due to COVID-19 restrictions.

The Kiwis had four Warriors players in their previous squad, who will likely be free to return to New Zealand and out of the NRL bubble at the end of September.

To play, they would need to either stay in Australia through the NRL’s finals series or return back to the country with two weeks’ quarantine.

Tonga’s Warriors players would face the same issue, while they’d also be without their English-based players due to the late finish of the Super League and travel restrictions.

It would leave questions over depth – particularly for Tonga – but could give a chance to build squad experience a year out from the World Cup.

“I’m really hoping we have one (Test) at the back end of the season,” Maguire said.

“In the background we are working around that… But I would really likely to get the Kiwi boys back around each other again.”