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Alex Johnston (rugby league)

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Alex Johnston
Personal information
Born (1995-01-14) 14 January 1995 (age 29)
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Height185 cm (6 ft 1 in)
Weight95 kg (14 st 13 lb)
Playing information
PositionWing, Fullback
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2014– South Sydney 133 93 0 0 360
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2015 Indigenous All Stars 1 0 0 0 0
2015 Australia 1 0 0 0 0
2015 Prime Minister's XIII 1 1 0 0 4
2019– Papua New Guinea 2 1 0 0 4
Source: [1]
As of 10 July 2020
Johnson at the 2014 Rugby League Four Nations

Alex Johnston (born 14 January 1995), also known by the nickname of "AJ",[2] is a professional rugby league footballer who plays as a fullback and winger for the South Sydney Rabbitohs in the NRL. He has played for both Australia and Papua New Guinea at international level.

He played for the Indigenous All Stars and the Prime Minister's XIII, and won the 2014 NRL Grand Final with the Rabbitohs.

Background

Johnston was born in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and is of Indigenous Australian and Papua New Guinean descent.

He played his junior rugby league for La Perouse United and attended Endeavour Sports High School (where he completed the HSC) before being signed by the South Sydney Rabbitohs. As a youngster, Johnston played for the New South Wales Under 16s and 18s teams and Australian Schoolboys team. In 2013, Johnston played for the South Sydney Rabbitohs' S. G. Ball Cup and NYC teams before moving on to the Rabbitohs' New South Wales Cup team, North Sydney Bears in 2014.[3]

Playing career

2014

In round 8 of the 2014 NRL season, Johnston was selected to make his NRL debut for the South Sydney Rabbitohs over dumped Souths winger Nathan Merritt against the Brisbane Broncos on the wing, scoring a try in the 28-26 win at Suncorp Stadium on Anzac Day.[4] He continued to perform on both the left and right wing throughout the year. At times, Johnston was referred to as the successor of Greg Inglis, for his ability to play fullback as well as wing. In round 21, Johnston scored his first ever hat-trick against the Newcastle Knights in the Rabbitohs 50-10 victory. On 5 October 2014, in Souths 2014 NRL Grand Final against the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, Johnston played on the wing and scored the first try of the match to lead the South Sydney Rabbitohs 30-6 victory.[5][6] Johnston finished his brilliant debut year in the NRL as being the competitions highest tryscorer of the 2014 NRL season with 21 tries in 18 matches. In September 2014, it was revealed that the Papua New Guinea national rugby league team were attempting to have Johnston pledge his allegiance to Papua New Guinea as his grandmother is from a village in Lumi, a place in the West Sepik Province of Papua New Guinea.[7] On 14 October 2014, Johnston was selected for the Australia Kangaroos 2014 Four Nations squad but didn't make an appearance in any of Australia's four matches.[8]

2015

On 13 February 2015, Johnston played on the wing for the Indigenous All Stars against the NRL All Stars in the 2015 All Stars match at Cbus Super Stadium, the Indigenous side winning 20-6.[9] On 23 February, he played for the Rabbitohs in the 2015 World Club Challenge match against 2014 Super League Grand Final premiers St. Helens, playing on the wing in the Rabbitohs' 39-0 win at Langtree Park.[10] For the 2015 Anzac Test, he was selected to make his debut for Australia against New Zealand, playing on the wing in the Kangaroos' 12-26 loss at Suncorp Stadium.[11][12] On 13 May, he re-signed with South Sydney on a 2-year contract to the end of the 2017 season.[13][14] On 8 July, he was selected to be 18th man for the New South Wales team for Game 3 of the 2015 State of Origin series.[15] He finished off the 2015 season as the Rabbitohs' highest try-scorer with 17 tries in 25 matches.[16] On 26 September, he played for the Prime Minister's XIII against Papua New Guinea, playing on the wing and scoring a try in his team's 40-12 win at Port Moresby.[17][18] On 15 December, he was named on the wing for the Indigenous All Stars team to play the World All Stars on 13 February 2016.[19]

2016

On 13 January, Johnston was named in the emerging New South Wales Blues squad.[20] In February, he played for the Rabbitohs in the 2016 NRL Auckland Nines, scoring the opening try of the competition.[21] He was selected on the wing and scored four tries in South Sydney's first three matches of the season before sustaining a hamstring injury that saw him sit out for several weeks. In his return game in round 10 against the Parramatta Eels, he played in his preferred position at fullback in a 22-20 win. He was renamed in the fullback position in round 15, once again against the Eels.[22] He was then moved back and forth as the club attempted to find a line-up that would win them. In round 23, Johnston played on the wing when the Rabbitohs broke their nine-game losing streak with a 41-22 win over the New Zealand Warriors. He played their for the next three final games which were all won by South Sydney. Johnston finished the 2016 season with 11 tries from 18 matches

2017

In round 1 of the 2017 season, South Sydney fullback, Greg Inglis suffered what was deemed to be a season-ending injury to his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in the club's 18-34 defeat by the Wests Tigers. In round 2, Johnston was named at fullback for the club's clash with the Manly Sea Eagles. Johnston scored two tries in the position in his sides' 18-38 win at Brookvale Oval. On 14 June he re-signed with the Rabbitohs until the end of the 2020 season. On 2 July he scored 5 tries against the Penrith Panthers to be the first Rabbitohs player since Nathan Merritt in 2011 to achieve 5 tries in a match. In round 21, Alex Johnston was switched back to fullback after poor performances by Souths who were on a three game losing streak. He scored an amazing try in the Rabbitohs' 32 - 18 loss against the Raiders. He then went on to score 6 tries in his next 3 games and was the leading try scorer with 2 rounds to go. However, against the New Zealand Warriors in round 24, Johnston injured his hamstring as he was scoring a try in the 36 - 18 win. He was ruled out for the rest of the season, with the Rabbitohs losing their last 2 matches. Johnston finished season 2017 with him playing 22 matches and scoring 22 tries, the second highest tryscorer that year.

2018

Johnston was part of the South Sydney side which returned to form in 2018 finishing 3rd on the table at the end of the regular season. Johnston made 24 appearances for Souths scoring 8 tries as the club finished one game short of the grand final losing to Eastern Suburbs 12-4.[23][24]

2019

Johnston began the 2019 NRL season as South Sydney's first choice fullback. South Sydney started the year off winning 8 of their first 9 games. Following Souths 19-18 loss against Penrith in round 14, Johnston was ruled out with a knee injury. In round 24, Johnston returned to the Souths side and scored a try as they defeated the New Zealand Warriors 31-10 at Mt. Smart Stadium.[25][26]

At the end of the 2019 regular season, Souths finished third on the table and qualified for the finals. Johnston scored a try in the club's 34-26 victory over Manly-Warringah in the semi-final at ANZ Stadium. The following week, Johnston played in South Sydney's preliminary final loss against the Canberra Raiders at Canberra Stadium.[27][28]

2020

In round 12 of the 2020 NRL season, Johnston scored a hat-trick as South Sydney defeated St. George 32-24 at Kogarah Oval.[29]

In round 14, Johnston scored two tries as South Sydney defeated North Queensland 31-30 at the Queensland Country Bank Stadium.[30]

References

  1. ^ "Alex Johnston - Career Stats & Summary". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
  2. ^ Michael Carayannis (2 April 2014). "Souths' Alex Johnston set to play alongside idol Greg Inglis". Smh.com.au. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
  3. ^ "Alex Johnson player results, scores, news and statistics". Archived from the original on 26 April 2014. Retrieved 25 April 2014.
  4. ^ "South Sydney Star Greg Inglis Scores Brilliant Solo Try in Controversial Win". Dailytelegraph.com.au. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
  5. ^ "South Sydney Rabbitohs Win 2014 Grand final Defeating Canterbury Bulldogs". Dailytelegraph.com.au. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
  6. ^ "Rabbitohs Grand Final Player Ratings". NRL.com. 5 October 2014. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
  7. ^ "Rabbitohs Star Alex Johnston PNG's No.1 Target | Triple M NRL". Triplem.com.au. 7 September 2014. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
  8. ^ Michael Carayannis. "South Sydney Rabbitohs Dylan Walker and Alex Johnston selected for Kangaroos". Smh.com.au. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
  9. ^ "Indigenous All Stars Have Beaten the NRL All Stars 20-6". Dailytelegraph.com.au. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
  10. ^ "South Sydney Thrash St Helens". Foxsports.com.au. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
  11. ^ "Representative Round team lists". NRL.com. 28 April 2015. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
  12. ^ "New Zealnd's Comprehensive Defeat of Australia Could Spell the End for Coach Tim Sheens and Several Veterans". Couriermail.com.au. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
  13. ^ "Extend Contracts of Alex Johnston and Cameron McInnes Until End of 2017". Rabbitohs.com.au. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
  14. ^ Michael Carayannis. "South Sydney Rabbitohs re-sign Alex Johnston and Cameron McInnes". Smh.com.au. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  15. ^ Michael Carayannis. "State of Origin: South Sydney duo Alex Johnston and Dylan Walker on verge of NSW call up for Origin II". Smh.com.au. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  16. ^ "Custom Match List". Rugby League Project. 29 October 2015. Retrieved 26 December 2015.
  17. ^ "Merrin to lead Prime Minister's XIII". NRL.com. 15 September 2015. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  18. ^ Tom Decent. "Australian Prime Minister's XIII beat Papua New Guinea 40-12 in Port Moresby". Smh.com.au. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  19. ^ "Teams named for NRL All Stars match". NRL.com. 15 December 2015. Retrieved 21 December 2015.
  20. ^ "Daley names 2016 Emerging Blues". NRL.com. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
  21. ^ "Rabbitohs name 2016 Nines squad". Rugby League Week. Archived from the original on 4 February 2016. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  22. ^ "Custom Match List". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 17 June 2016.
  23. ^ https://www.nrl.com/news/2018/09/22/player-ratings-roosters-v-rabbitohs/
  24. ^ http://www.rugbyleagueproject.org/matches/Custom/MTItMTcxNy00LS0tLS0tMjA4MDItLS0tLS0tLS0tLS0t
  25. ^ "Souths too good for undisciplined Warriors". 7news.
  26. ^ "Allan key for Souths after Johnston injury". SBS.
  27. ^ "Rabbitohs dig deep to eliminate Sea Eagles in finals thriller". NRL.
  28. ^ "Canberra Raiders end 25-year wait to reach NRL grand final with victory over Rabbitohs". The Guardian.
  29. ^ "Hat-trick hero Alex Johnston's telling interview amid South Sydney contract breakdown". wwos.nine.com.au.
  30. ^ "Ice-cool Reynolds kicks Rabbitohs to miracle win after late Feldt brain fade". www.foxsports.com.au.
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