Melbourne won, but South Sydney’s Johnston and Mitchell were the real stars

Alex Johnston wants three simple wishes granted by the end of the season – no injuries, Ken Irvine’s all-time try-scoring record, and a new deal at South Sydney.

And after bagging four tries during Saturday night’s 25-24 golden-point loss to Melbourne, Johnston might be in a bit of luck.

Johnston has moved to 206 career tries and only six shy of Irvine’s 212 record, which has stood since 1973.

Fearing another couple of big try hauls, Souths coach Wayne Bennett joked that he may force Johnston to skip any future road trips so Souths fans can celebrate at home in style with the 30-year-old premiership winner.

It was not that long ago Johnston ruptured his Achilles and feared he would not play again, let alone get close to Irvine’s milestone – but now he is daring to dream.

“I don’t want to harp on it much, but I said when I scored 200 tries a few weeks ago how I wasn’t in the best place for a good while [last year], and it was special to go out there and get a standing ovation when I scored 200 tries,” Johnston said.

“I’m now on 206. I’ll keep ticking them over. Things are looking up.

“I’m lucky I’ve got a pretty good rock [partner Taryn] at home, and family are always there for me.

“Once I finish this season, without getting injured, touch wood, signing a new contract will be nice, getting that record will be nice, then, I don’t know. Another four more years would be nice.”

Johnston remains without a deal for 2026, but Bennett and Johnston are confident something will be thrashed out.

Alex Johnston helped himself to four tries for South Sydney.Credit: Getty Images

“We’re still chatting, I don’t know if it’s locked in yet, I know my manager and Souths were in talks this week,” Johnston said.

“We’ll see what happens. I think it’s very close.”

Bennett said after the tight loss to the Storm: “We’re negotiating with him [about 2026]. We believe that will happen, but it hasn’t happened yet. There’s a bit more negotiating to be done.”

For a player who crosses the tryline as often as Johnston, it is a shame he does not have a decent celebration.

“Celebration? I’m not that flairy. I’ve got nothing. I can’t think of anything. If you come up with something, let me know.”

That magical moment now looks like happening much sooner than everyone expected after Johnston bagged four tries during Saturday night’s golden-point 25-24 loss to the Melbourne Storm.

His career try tally moved to 206, just six adrift of Irvine whose mark has stood since 1973.

The 30-year-old Johnston said he had even surprised himself how quickly he was zoning in on the record after nine tries in his past four games.

Johnston was on the end of three wonderful passes from Latrell Mitchell on the weekend. How many times has Mitchell rifled a pass for Johnston to score in the corner. Come to think of it, how often did Greg Inglis do likewise earlier in Johnston’s career.

“They are two special fullbacks I’ve played with,” Johnston said.

“Then you’ve got guys like Cody [Walker] who probably has even more try assists [involving] me.

“The centres I’ve had over the years as well ... I’ve been lucky to be on the end of a pretty special backline.”

Souths lost a fourth straight game, but also faced a fourth straight opponent that was in the top four on the ladder.

They are also expected to welcome the return of Walker, Campbell Graham and Peter Mamouzelos for next Saturday’s clash against the Dolphins.