Alex Johnston sets his sights on breaking Nathan Merritt’s Rabbitohs tryscoring record
Alex Johnston was resigned to leaving South Sydney — but now he’s sticking around, the 25-year-old flyer has his eyes firmly on a legendary slice of Rabbitohs history.
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Alex Johnston was resigned to leaving South Sydney for Melbourne, but now he’s got his sights set on breaking a legendary Rabbitohs record.
Johnston looked to be leaving Souths due to salary cap pressures and heading to the Storm as a replacement for Josh Addo-Carr.
“Melbourne was the club I was most likely going to. I was very close to going, they are a very professional club,” Johnston said.
“I spoke to them all on Zoom and I liked what they had to say. All respect to them, I liked what they had to say. But when Souths come to the table I just wanted to stay in Sydney with family. I had to take that offer to stay at the club.
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“For almost the whole season I thought I had to leave. (I’m) very grateful the opportunity came where I got an offer and stoked to sign it and keep going.”
A local junior and one of just two players left from the 2014 premiership side, Johnston’s first choice was always to stay with Souths.
The 25-year old also confirmed he took below market value to Redfern.
“It means everything. It means I can keep playing for Souths. I love the club, I have come through the system the whole way,” Johnston said.
“I obviously just want to stay with the club I love. It was a bit undoers, but that was the sacrifice to make to stay with the club and with family.
“The club means a lot. I’ve grown up playing with the club. This is all I know. I love the boys. I love showing up training every day and going to Redfern.”
Johnston is closing in on 100 career tries for the Rabbitohs — but he was left red-faced after bombing a clear tryscoring chance in South Sydney’s 26-24 win over the Tigers on Thursday night.
With the line wide open and nobody in front of him, Johnston dropped an easy pass from Campbell Graham that would have allowed him to stroll over untouched.
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“Thank God I signed it yesterday. I’m stuck for two more years, they can’t get rid of me now,” Johnston said.
“I think I was already celebrating. Everything was going through my head and I just took my eyes off the ball. It won’t happen again, thank God we won the game in the end.”
After he cracks 100, Johnston has his sights set on topping Merritt’s club record of 146 four-pointers.
“Let’s just focus on getting one more try, just getting the ball down. Then getting to 100 this year and keep going,” Johnston said.
“Nathan Merritt’s got the record with 146 at the club. After I get to 100 that’s the next touch for me.
“Three more. I just have to catch the ball and put it down. Hopefully I can do that in the next few games.”
The Rabbitohs kept their top four hopes alive via the win over the Tigers and have continued their recent run of good attacking football despite losing Latrell Mitchell for the rest of the season due to a hamstring injury.
“I think we’ve shown when we’re on and playing the way we can we can put on a lot of points,” Johnston said.
“Our defence at times has been a bit shaky and our ball control but if we can fix that we can go all the way.”
JOHNSTON OWES NEW DEAL TO TEENAGER
He is the 18-year-old Coles customer service member who helped convince South Sydney to re-sign star player Alex Johnston.
After being told in June he was unwanted at Redfern, Rabbitohs favourite Johnston has accepted a massive pay cut to sign a new two-year deal.
And Maroubra’s Zac Wheeler played a key role in Johnston’s retention after starting an online petition titled: Keep Alex Johnson at the South Sydney Rabbitohs.
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It attracted more than 2500 signatures by the time Johnston’s signing was announced.
A former South Sydney High School student, Wheeler is a passionate Rabbitohs fan who devised the petition outside of his work hours at Coles, Eastgardens. Each time Johnston achieved something special on the field, Wheeler would send the updated petition to Souths management.
“I did it after seeing the outrage of Souths fans all over Souths pages when we heard the news that he wasn’t going to re-sign,” Wheeler said.
“I decided to start a petition for everyone to sign so we could get it to the Souths board so they could see how much ‘AJ’ means to the club.
“I sent the club emails and I know the message was very strong. Every time we won and AJ played a part in the win, we would ask them to re-sign him.
“He is a player that always gives 100 per cent and never lets the team down, whether it’s at fullback or on the wing. I don’t know Alex at all but I feel very relieved by the news, I’m very happy.
“I do think the petition helped to actually show how much he is loved. All Souths fans were on board with AJ staying at the club. He is a club man and is a Souths junior.”
It is understood Johnston – who has scored 97 tries from 138 matches – accepted more than $100,000 a season less than he could have received from Melbourne Storm.
Johnston, 25, faced the prospect of being forced from his beloved Bunnies due to salary cap restraints The decision will not impact Souths’ chase for rugby union sensation, Joseph Suaalii.
“Firstly I would like to thank all of the members and fans for their support. It’s been overwhelming to be honest,” Johnston said. “I’m absolutely stoked to be staying and continuing my dream of being a one-club man. I’m relieved to finally have my contract sorted so I can now just concentrate on footy and scoring more tries.
“I’m really looking forward to the next couple of years and playing with this group of men we have here at Souths. There are exciting times ahead and we’ll keep working hard towards winning that 22nd premiership for South Sydney.
Originally published as Alex Johnston sets his sights on breaking Nathan Merritt’s Rabbitohs tryscoring record