It’s been a good couple of weeks for the Aussie battler. Nathan Lyon cracked the top ten for all time test wickets, Nick Kyrgios made the final of Wimbledon, the Hockeyroos won bronze at the World Cup, and South Sydney winger Alex Johnston moved to the cusp of the top ten all-time leading try scorers.

Born in Sydney in 1995, Johnston recently overtook Nathan Merritt as South Sydney’s greatest ever try scorer. At just 27 years old, Johnston has plenty of time to keep climbing the list.

Since making his first grade debut in 2014, Johnston has scored 155 tries. His hat-trick against Canterbury on the weekend saw him go past Merritt (who also played for Cronulla) and former test centre Michael Jennings. Another three tries will see Johnston join Josh Morris in tenth position.

In 2021, Johnston broke the South Sydney club record for most tries in a season with 30. It was one better than the record held by winger Les Brennan since 1954.

The all-time try scoring record belongs to legendary test winger Ken Irvine, with a massive 212 between 1959 and 1973. No-one has really come close to breaking that record, with Billy Slater coming closest with 190 before his retirement in 2018.While it is unrealistic to assume Johnston can bag 30 tries every year, even ten tries a year for the next five seasons would see him move past Slater and have Irvine in his sights.

Like another great South Sydney try scoring winger. Benny Wearing (144 tries between 1921 and 1933), Johnston has played just one test match for Australia. If the Kangaroos are looking for speed and consistency on the wing at the World Cup, Mal Meninga might want to check if he has Johnston’s phone number.