Ken Irvine’s Australian try-scoring record has stood for half a century, but South Sydney winger Alex Johnston is closing at pace.
ALEX JOHNSTON might not be the biggest name in the National Rugby League, but he’s only a handful of tries away from etching his name into the Australian rugby league record books.
The Rabbitohs flyer has bounced back from a torn Achilles suffered last July to return to top try-scoring form and continue his charge towards Ken Irvine’s all-time Australian mark.
“A few weeks ago, I would have told you I was still a fair bit away,” he told the media after crossing four times against Melbourne in Round 16.
“But I’ve scored a few tries in the past few games and I’m getting close now. I’ll try my best to get it this year.
“It will be very special.”
North Sydney and Manly icon Irvine notched 212 tries from 238 games in a decorated career which ended in 1973. Johnston currently has 207 from 239.
The South Sydney winger boasts Bradman-esque numbers.
Two five-try hauls, one four-try haul, 13 hat tricks and 40 doubles. Only four other players in Australian history have bagged five tries twice in their career.
His 30-try seasons in 2021 and 2022 has been surpassed just twice ever: Newtown’s Ray Preston (34 in 1954) and Eastern Suburbs’ Dave Brown (38 in 1935).
Scrolling down the try-scoring charts, Billy Slater (190 tries from 317 games), Steve Menzies (180 from 324) and Brett Morris (176 from 276) form the chasing pack.
Next on the list is a fellow active player, the Roosters’ Daniel Tupou, with 171 from 277 games. Then it’s a little further to Josh Addo-Carr, with 148 from 191.
And neither have a strike rate that compares to Johnston’s 0.88 tries per game (Tupou 0.62 and Addo-Carr 0.77).
The 30-year-old made his first-grade bow as a 19-year-old in Round 8, 2014. He took just 10 minutes to score in the Bunnies’ 28-26 win over the Broncos, setting the tone for things to come.
He then snared braces against the Titans and Storm over the next fortnight. And come October, the then-teenager had a premiership ring on his finger, after South Sydney’s drought-breaking triumph over Canterbury in the Grand Final.
Johnston played his one and only Test match for the Kangaroos the following May against New Zealand, although further elite representative honours eluded him.
He never caught the eye of New South Wales selectors for an Origin jumper. But he did line up for Papua New Guinea 10 times between 2019 and 2023, representing the heritage of his late grandmother.
Johnston’s incredible 30 tries for the second straight season earned him Dally M winger of the year honours in 2022.
Other than that, though, his accomplishments have somewhat flown under the radar for someone who’s scored a double century of tries.
A glass-half-empty perspective might suggest Johnston could have even more tries to his name. Since his debut, he’s played 234 of a possible 286 games — missing roughly one in five.
That he’s still keeping scoreboard attendants busy in 2025 is testament to his resilience, overcoming a slew of niggles to his hamstrings, quads, knees, hip flexors and Achilles.
Greg Inglis’ torn ACL in the opening game of 2017 left Cody Walker and Johnston to fill the Bunnies’ number one jumper.
And following Inglis’ return in the centres in 2018, Johnston shifted to fullback full-time in 2018. The move slowed down his try-scoring, claiming just eight from 24 games despite Souths’ top-four finish.
Season 2019 was even tougher before a mid-season knee injury, but a shift back to the wing and the outbreak of Covid signalled the prime of Johnston’s career.
It’s no coincidence that 2020 was the year Latrell Mitchell joined the club.
Adding to the firepower they already possessed with standoff Cody Walker, the trio of Johnston, Mitchell and Walker formed the most consistently potent left edge in the game.
From the start of 2020 to the end of 2023, when the Bunnies were September regulars, the try-scoring machine netted 104 tries from 92 outings.
Johnston almost left the Rabbitohs at the end of 2020 — when the Storm, Tigers and Cowboys were reportedly circling — before extending for two years – two years which netted 60 tries.
Souths’ slide in 2024 coincided with a quieter year for Johnson, who was limited to just 13 games first by a hamstring then that season-ending torn Achilles.
He returned from that Achilles in rsound four this year. And despite a slow start — copping a rib injury in his first game back, then a hamstring in his second — he had no trouble finding the whitewash, crossing 11 times in nine games heading into the Penrith clash.
That tally included a hat trick against the Warriors then four against the Storm, closing the gap to Irvine at pace.
So how many more four-pointers does Johnston have in him?
He will celebrate his 31st birthday in January, and doesn’t have a contract for 2026.
But the Sydney Morning Herald last month reported he was set to sign a one-year extension at the Bunnies, despite being shopped around to arch rivals the Roosters.
The same report said veteran standoff Cody Walker — who’s five years older than Johnston — is also close to extending for another 12 months.
And the road doesn’t have to end next season. South Sydney are loading up on veterans until the end of 2027 at the earliest.
Mitchell, Jack Wighton, new recruit Brandon Smith and forwards Jai Arrow and Euan Aitken are all committed until then, when they’ll all be 30-plus.
You can throw in Cam Murray and Tevita Tatola, who have signed until the conclusion of 2028, when they’ll be 30 and 31 respectively.
Coach Wayne Bennett is also contracted until the end of 2027. And if there’s anyone who won’t discriminate against players on the basis of age, it’s a man who’ll be approaching his 78th birthday by the time his current deal expires.
Johnston’s future is a question for tomorrow.
The remainder of 2025 is a time to recognise his try-scoring feats that will earn him a permanent place in the record books.
First published in Rugby League World magazine, Issue 511 (August 2025)