Souths’ Alex Johnston scores 150th NRL try, roasts Benji Marshall

Rabbitohs star Alex Johnston ticked off another massive milestone after another epic feat but still had enough energy to roast a former teammate.

Benji Marshall enjoyed the stitch up. Photo: Fox Sports

Is there nothing Alex Johnston can’t do when it comes to scoring NRL tries?

The South Sydney Rabbitohs winger tallied his 150th NRL try, bouncing to the top of the tryscorers list in 2022 with his 14th of the year as he scored the first hat-trick in back-to-back games in his career.

It was the catalyst for the Rabbitohs to claim a 30-16 win over the Gold Coast Titans, celebrating Tom Burgess’ 200th game in style.

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Johnston, who became the Rabbitohs’ most prolific tryscorer in history in his last match against the Wests Tigers, moved past rugby league legends Bob Fulton and Greg Inglis to move into 15th place on the all-time list.

It’s another step for Johnston to chase down the NRL’s most unbreakable record — Ken Irvine’s 212 career tries.

At 27 years old, Johnston is on track to break the all-time mark as he’s claimed 73 tries in his last 62 games.

Johnston knows his way to the stripe. Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images

Speaking after the match, Johnston paid tribute to his teammates for his prolific tryscoring streak.

“I can’t put it down to anything, when we’re on song down the left side, I tend to score some tries,” Johnston said. “I know it’s cliche but I do owe it to the guys inside me like Stretch (Campbell Graham) and Cody (Walker).”

Former teammate Benji Marshall quipped: “You didn’t mention me there AJ”.

But his Fox League co-host Cooper Cronk didn’t let it go past, asking: “Out of those 150 tries, surely Benji Marshall set you up for one? Surely.”

Johnston played along, saying: “Did he set me up? You’ll have to refresh my memory, I’m sure he’ll show me a few of his highlights, that’s for sure.”

“This is a stitch up,” Marshall laughed.

Rabbitohs coach Jason Demetriou said scoring tries wasn’t the only thing Johnston brought to the team.

“A couple of those tries, he had finish them as well,” Demetriou said. “Sometimes people think wingers just put the ball down but any half chance or quarter chance AJ turns into four points. It’s a real asset to our team.

“I think the work he’s doing at the back of the field is just as infectious as what he’s doing scoring tries. I thought his kick returns were outstanding, his energy in the first half and that’s given us field position for him to do what he does at the other end.”

It’s a big win for the Rabbitohs. Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images

The Titans, who put up a decent fight, are still languishing in 15th position after succumbing to a ninth defeat in the past 10 games. The Rabbitohs, still to hit top gear, are now in position to make a run at the top four with the imminent return of Latrell Mitchell a huge boost.

The class of big South Sydney guns Cody Walker, Damien Cook, Campbell Graham, Johnston and Keaon Koloamatangi was the difference as Tom Burgess became the seventh Rabbitoh to play 200 first grade games for the club.

Cody Walker lobbed a beautiful floating out-ball for Johnston to do what he does best to get the Rabbitohs on the board early.

Titans half Toby Sexton’s kicking game was on song early and he threw a superb cut-out pass for 105kg runaway beast Greg Marzhew to trample would-be Rabbitohs defenders and score.

When the Rabbitohs were in need of inspiration, half Lachlan Ilias provided it with a lobbed bomb for Jaxson Paulo to soar high and snaffle it for a cracker.

The hosts completed at 95 per cent and missed just 10 tackles in the opening stanza but when Johnston and company put their foot down in the second half the Titans were unable to go with them.

With Joel Gould, NCA Newswire