Triscoring machine Alex Johnston reached another milestone in his career by scoring his 150th NRL four-pointer.
The Rabitohas easily held the Titans to the Gold Coast, sealing the last of Johnston’s three attempts late in the second half.
The 27-year-old once played Greg Inglis in a television commercial, before becoming his premiership-winning teammate, and now, surpassing one of the game’s all-time greats to capture his 150th attempt.
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He became only the 15th person to do so, and the third to wear the famous Cardinal and Martel. Harold Hurder shared his time between North and South in a great career, with 146 for Nathan Merritt Banerjee and eight more for Cronulla.
But Johnston has been to all 150 Redfern clubs, made his debut in 2014 and has been the mainstay of the team ever since – and if he hadn’t spent part of the 2017-19 season at fullback, he could have already finished 200th.
“I can’t put it down at all – obviously I tend to try something when we sing on the left,” he told Fox League.
“It’s a clich, but I owe it to people inside me like Stretch (Campbell Graham) and Cody (Walker).”
It’s a back-to-back hat-trick for Johnston, and a back-to-back win for the South – after they beat the Tigers the week before Origin.
They have yet to win three games in a row this year, and will aim to do so against the Dragons on Thursday night.
“We just have to go upstairs,” Johnston said.
Fellow Damien Cook was full of admiration – and said it was good and true that Irwin’s pursuit of an all-time record of 212 trials was going well.
“His IQ as a winger is incredible,” Hooker told the Fox League.
“He’s one of the smartest people out there – he attacks and puts himself in the right position at DA.”
“It’s an incredible achievement, what he’s done. He’s going to break that record.
“He’s still young, there are going to be several to come.”
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