2022 Rabbitoh News - Johnston 2023-25 Contract Extension

Alex Johnston 2023-25 Contract Extension

18th October 2021

The South Sydney Rabbitohs are delighted to announce the contract extension of dual Ken Irvine Medallist Alex Johnston until at least the end of the 2025 season. Johnston, 26, is a South Sydney junior from the La Perouse club who has played 166 NRL matches since making his debut in 2014 including the Grand Finals of 2014 and 2021. Johnston has scored 136 tries and has been awarded the Ken Irvine Medal as the season’s top try scorer for the last two consecutive years. Johnston has also represented Australia in on Test match and Papua New Guinea in two Test matches, as well as the Indigenous All Stars on four occasions. Regarded as one of the best finishers in the game, Johnston is on track to break the Rabbitohs’ all-time try scoring record currently held by the legendary Nathan Merritt on 146 tries and holds the record for most tries in one season at South Sydney following his 30 tries scored in 2021.

Rabbitohs Head of Football, Mark Ellison, says he is very happy to know Alex is extending his tenure with South Sydney. "Alex is a tremendous finisher and is really building the other areas of wing play such as kick returns and defence," Mr Ellison said. "He is a proud Indigenous man that rose to the Rabbitohs from La Perouse in the Souths Juniors competitions and has gone on to represent Australia, Papua New Guinea and the Indigenous All Stars so far in his career. He is a popular member of the squad and is becoming one of the leading senior players at the Club. We’re very excited to be able to extend his contract for a further three years on top of his existing contract and look forward to seeing him score many more tries in that left corner in the years to come."

Johnston is happy to be staying at the Club for which he has always wanted to play. "I’m stoked to be staying at the Club for a further three years and hopefully it’s another step in staying as a one-club player," Johnston said. "The last couple of years have been massive and I’ll be doing everything I can to ensure we go one step further than we did this year and win more premierships for this Club. I also want to thank the Members for all of their support, particularly over the past two years with everything that we’ve all had to go through with the COVID pandemic. Their support for the Club hasn’t waned and they have been of great support to me as well. I joked with ‘Ello’ (Mark Ellison) that I wanted to be the first to re-sign this time around and it’s great to have it all sorted out nice and early! I can’t wait to get back into season 2022 and playing for our Members and the Club once again."