During the first day of Sydney’s Pink Test one year, Glenn McGrath slid into the television commentary box, where the late Shane Warne was getting bored with what was actually happening on the field.
Maybe the only thing Warne loved more than a party was a party trick. McGrath is said to not only know who he dismissed for every one of his 563 Test wickets, but how and where each dismissal occurred. Warne knew of McGrath’s skill, too.
“What about 123?” Warne asks.
The key, McGrath reckons, was knowing exactly how many wickets he was on before the start of every Test series and working it out from there. His memory was as precise as his bowling action.
“We go off to the home of cricket at Lord’s [for the second Test],” McGrath starts. “I was on 121, so it would be my second one. Do you remember that one?”
“No,” Warne replies. “Why would I?”
Alex Johnston is on track to become Australian rugby league’s leading try-scorer.Credit:Getty
Continues McGrath: “Mark Butcher edged one and was caught in close by ‘Blewy’ [Greg Blewett] for the first one. That’s 122. And I think old ‘Athers’ [Mike Atherton] edged one up the slope and it was a regulation catch. ‘Tub’ [Mark Taylor] made it look pretty hard with a diving catch two-handed.”
A quick check of the history books reveals McGrath was right, which begs two questions; firstly, how the hell? And secondly, weren’t fast bowlers supposed to have the lowest IQ in the team?
This week, up the back of the old Redfern Oval grandstand, another athlete scaling the summit of his profession is quietly disproving a stereotype that surrounds it.
Alex Johnston might be Australian rugby league’s greatest try-scorer within a couple of years, but when you pick up the phone to ask about him, everyone wants to tell you about another three letter-word they say defines him: dux.
“I just wanted to be the smartest because I was competitive,” shrugs Johnston, South Sydney’s greatest try-scorer and dux of Endeavour Sports High in 2012.
A rugby league player? As dux of a school?
“Shaun Lane was also bright, and they both brought that competitiveness to the classroom,” shrugs Johnston’s old Endeavour teacher Brad Kelly.
Rugby league players have never been short of intelligence on the field.
Andrew Johns was feted for knowing exactly where he wanted to be in three or four plays time, and the manoeuvre he was setting up for to exploit a tired defender. Cameron Smith would know two or three sets in advance what he wanted to achieve. Perhaps there’s no greater strategist in the modern game than Isaah Yeo, who somehow knows the perfect time to pass to Nathan Cleary, or pound the ball himself through the middle.
‘He’s able to understand space and it’s one thing to be fast, but understanding space is his biggest attribute.’
Jason Demetriou
But Johnston, as a winger, is using his intellect to perfect a position played mostly these days by brawny specimens like Maika Sivo, Joseph Suaalii and Brian To’o.
“He’s able to understand space and it’s one thing to be fast, but understanding space is his biggest attribute,” Rabbitohs coach Jason Demetriou said. “He knows whether to accelerate or change direction depending on where the space is. He scores tries not just because he’s quick, but because he’s smart as well. His footy intelligence is probably understated.”
Johnston’s old South Sydney coach Wayne Bennett watched his winger score one of those familiar Accor Stadium hat-tricks last year and raised a pertinent point about his last try.
The first two he basically caught the ball and fell over the line. For the third, he had to run at an angle to the corner post where he was trying to avoid the scrambling defence of Newcastle’s Kurt Mann. Having originally caught a cutout pass from Cody Walker (who else?) on the right side of his body, Johnston transferred it to his left side to protect it from the defender before leaping into the air, contorting his body around the corner post, and at the last moment switching the ball back into his right hand only to ensure it kissed the turf centimetres inside the dead in goal line.
Alex Johnston and Cody Walker celebrate another Rabbitohs try.Credit:Getty
“I don’t think people realise how intelligent this bloke is,” Walker says. “Our combination now, we don’t have to call a play, if you know what I mean. He knows when to fall into shape, he knows what’s required to put himself in those positions. Myself and ‘Trell’ [Latrell Mitchell] have just got to hit him. He’s one of the best finishers in the game.”
But how much of Johnston’s crazy try-scoring feats is down to the likes of Walker and Mitchell inside him, or the man himself, who Bennett once described as a “70s, 80s and maybe middle-90s type player” flourishing in 2022?
“Half of it is luck,” says Johnston. “I’ve had guys inside me who have created opportunities for me. It’s probably taken me a while, but the last three years have been crazy with the total I’ve been scoring. I think a lot of it is just experience and knowing where to be, and how to run lines.
“But I’m just very grateful to be playing in this era and be on the end of the line with guys like Cody and Latrell, and Benji Marshall last year, some of the tries he put on was pretty special. To watch that back, it’s unbelievable the talent I get to play outside of.”
Alex Johnston has scored 163 NRL tries.Credit:Getty
On Saturday night, Johnston is poised to overtake Brett Stewart (163) and join Terry Lamb (164) as the sixth highest try-scorer of all time in Australia’s top grade rugby league. He could also equal fifth-placed Andrew Ettingshausen (165) with a double against the Cowboys.
At just 27, he’s on pace to shatter Ken Irvine’s record of 212 tries, which has stood since the 1970s. The running joke at Redfern is that he would almost be there if he hadn’t spent the entire 2018 season playing at fullback, while left-winger Robert Jennings bagged 19 tries for the year.
His teammates know what is around the corner, too, and what has passed, with Campbell Graham shouting at Johnston after he passed him the ball for the four-pointer against the Tigers which overtook Nathan Merritt as the club’s all-time try-scoring leader earlier this year.
History! History!
“I know what I’m on,” Johnston says. “There’s been a couple of records where I’ve had no idea what’s happened and then after the game, they say, ‘you’ve achieved this’. I’m like, ‘that’s cool’. It’s all a cherry on top. But the main thing is I’m just grateful to be playing for South Sydney.
“Some people only get to play for a couple of years for a few games, but to have your name written down in history and be a part of something is really special. When people think of South Sydney, they think of the legends of the game like John Sutton, Bob McCarthy … I want them to think Alex Johnston as well.”
Before he runs onto the field against the Cowboys, he’ll take off a string of wristbands, kiss them and leave them in his bag. One is dedicated to his Indigenous heritage, another to his mate Kurt Drysdale, who was left paralysed after a catastrophic rugby league tackle, and the last a nod to his upbringing at Endeavour, with the values “Personal Best, Respect and Family” written on it.
“He still has that today,” says Kelly, who labelled Johnston one of the very few students talented enough to pass through three sports programs at the school (athletics, cricket and finally rugby league). “He’s broken a couple over the years, but he always asks for another one.”
To better educate the next generation, Johnston is writing a footy-related children’s book to be released at the end of next year, which is when, injuries permitting, he should be nudging the mark of Billy Slater (190), with only Irvine left in his sights.
The frequent cinemagoer still harbours an ambition to play a part in a movie, too – a topic of conversation that has arisen with Rabbitohs co-owner Russell Crowe. “Honestly, if I come in and say one word, then walk off screen, that would be awesome,” Johnston says.
He might be able to play himself one day.
And as for bucking that stereotype, and the McGrath gift … how about try No.81?
“Oh, I can remember my first try in my debut year, another one where I ran the length of the field and the grand final try,” Johnston says. “But between then and the last few years, I have no idea. It’s not I can’t keep up, but everything is a blur.”
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