Naufahu was offered to reprise the role multiple times following his departure, but he never felt it was the right time. Producers planned a storyline in 2014 that would see Sam return as a love interest for Vasa Levi (Teuila Blakely). When asked to reprise the role Naufahu accepted after learning what pleasure it would bring his mother. He was cast in late 2013. It was announced in January that Naufahu would return to the soap. Naufahu was pleased to be working alongside Blakely but was unaware the two would share a romantic storyline. Naufahu had previously acted with Blakely on the soap, when she portrayed an extra at his onscreen wife's funeral in 1994. He found it odd acting alongside a young cast, having been part of the young characters when he first appeared, "I've become that grumpy guy on set. When I started out I was like, 'that guy is so grumpy because he forgot his lines. Get it together old man.' Now its like, that's me." He found it particularly strange acting alongside Lucy Elliott (Dayna Jenkins), having held her as a baby when her father, Peter appeared on the soap. Naufahu found it easy getting back into character but noted Sam was, "much cooler than me." He also noted that Sam's return would not be sensational, rather he would simply become "wallpaper". Sam made his return on 18 March 2014. Naufahu hoped the role would be long running and believed he could see himself on the soap for another 10 years. The character was written off following Blakely's decision to leave the show, and Vasa and Sam both departed on 11 July 2014. However Naufahu agreed to reprise his role 3 months later, to reintroduce his onscreen daughter Sophie McIntosh (Honour Aleni) into the core cast. Sam made a one episode return on 8 October 2014.
