Melbourne Storm defeat South Sydney Rabbitohs 25-24 after golden point, four Alex Johnston tries

The Rabbitohs came up one-point short against the Storm but Alex Johnston moved four tries closer to breaking the record that was never supposed to be broken, now just six away from Ken Irvine’s legendary haul.

The record that was never supposed to be broken now looks set to fall this season after try-scoring machine Alex Johnston scored four tries to move within six tries of Ken Irvine’s legendary haul, but it wasn’t enough as Ryan Papenhuyzen nailed a golden point field goal to sink South Sydney.

A week after they were forced off by lightning and heavy rain, the Rabbitohs held their own against a very different Storm side but fell short of a famous win as Papenhuyzen drilled a shot from 15 metres out to seal a thrilling 25-24 win.

But the story is Johnston who is now up to 206 tries and needs just seven more tries to go past Irvine after he scored once in the first half and twice in the space of two minutes after the break as he tormented Melbourne’s right edge defence.

“I said to him at half-time ‘do you have another try in you?’ and he said ‘I have a couple in me’,” Wayne Bennett said, revealing the club is negotiating a new deal.

“It’s the first time ever that he’s ever scored four tries in a game in a long and remarkable career so he’s pretty pleased with himself, and we are too.”

His 16th hat-trick – and 56th multi-try game – continued his astounding record, with Johnston’s first three tries all coming off Latrell Mitchell passes.

The Storm hit back to take the lead through Grant Anderson, but it lasted less than a minute as the veteran winger picked off a Jahrome Hughes pass to become the first player ever to score four tries against the Storm in a game.

Given his incredible strike rate, there’s every chance Johnston will break the long-standing record in the coming weeks which will trigger incredible scenes wherever it takes place.

Alex Johnston is rapidly closing in on Ken Irvine’s record. Picture: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

GOLDEN MOMENT

The Storm had their hearts broken in golden point at Magic Round, but they flipped the script on Saturday with Papenhuyzen nailing the moment after his first shot was charged down 30 seconds earlier.

Melbourne’s fullback has been ice cool in the past and was at his clinical best after he saw rival Latrell Mitchell miss his 46-metre attempt in the final seconds of regulation time.

It sealed a crucial win for the Storm who move into third spot without any byes to come for the rest of the season.

Ryan Papenhuyzen kicks the winning field goal. Picture: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

Relief for Melbourne. Picture: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

SUA SIZZLES

Souths looked certain to steamroll the Storm in the final 20 minutes until a moment of magic from livewire winger Sua Fa’alogo saved the visitors.

Melbourne got off to a flying start when skipper Harry Grant waltzed through some flimsy marker defence to open the scoring, and they doubled their advantage from the next set when Grant Anderson put in a banana kick for Jahrome Hughes.

But then they fell into their old ways that have plagued them for much of the season as they produced eight first-half errors to invite Souths back into the contest.

Their attack fell flat until Fa’alogo sparked them into life when he caught a towering bomb on his own 20 and broke through to set up Tyran Wishart to put Melbourne back in front.

Tyran Wishart finishes off a brilliant run from Faalogo!

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Another error from the kick-off summed up their night, with Papenhuyzen producing a magical play from a 20-metre restart to find touch, only for the full-time siren to beat them before they could pack the scrum.

SOUTHS FIGHT ON

The Rabbitohs could drop to second last on the ladder at the end of the round, but they lost no admirers after this one.

It’s been a tough run for the Bunnies against the top four teams, but they are showing plenty of fight even though Wayne Bennett suffered his 15th loss in a row against Craig Bellamy.

Mitchell is the man who can save their season after he set up four tries, including a stunning grubber for Tyrone Munro to score with four minutes remaining, only for his conversion attempt to sail wide.

“He’s a special player, and he was special tonight,” Bennett said of his superstar fullback who shone just three days after Origin in Perth.

“With so many players, he’s been standing up for us. I didn’t want to play him tonight, but I had to play him.”

Originally published as Melbourne Storm defeat South Sydney Rabbitohs 25-24 after golden point, four Alex Johnston tries