Wayne Bennett and the NRL are trying to stop fans from flooding the field when Alex Johnston breaks the long-standing rugby league tryscoring record, whether its this week or in the future, but the man himself has a different opinion.
Johnston now sits just two tries away from breaking Ken Irvine’s all-time tryscoring record that has stood for more than five decades. He only needs one to equalise the record (because that’s how maths works, of course) and could well do that — or even better, both — when facing Souths arch-rivals the Sydney Roosters in round two this weekend.
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The competition’s governing body has been marshalling extra guards and police officers, warning that there’ll be $5,500 fines and lengthy stadium bans, and further penalties for anyone caught rushing the field, but “AJ” had a completely different take — he thinks it would be pretty awesome if he were swamped once he scores his 212th top-flight try.
“They can’t fine everyone,” the Souths winger said with a smile, speaking on FOX Sports show Sunday Night with Matty Johns to discuss what could happen if he breaks the Irvine record while playing against the Roosters on Friday.
He also said, “Oh mate, it’s been on my mind… I’m stressing, I want to get this record over and done with.”
“You didn’t hear from me really,” he added, “but it’ll be pretty cool if everyone jumped on.”
Right now, “AJ” is paying $4.50 to break the record in the second half against the Roosters, while that comes in to $3.25 against the Tigers in round three. It balloons out to $10 for round four vs. the Bulldogs.
The general feeling around the rugby league traps is that we’ll see the momentous occasion this week or next. Should it happen this weekend, it will be at Allianz Stadium, right near where Swans fans rushed Buddy Franklin after he kicked his 1,000th goal in 2022. Otherwise, it’s a good chance Ken Irvine’s top spot will fall in Gosford on Saturday, March 21.
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As mentioned, Johnston’s coach, Bennett, is in the complete other camp on the whole affair. He doesn’t believe it’s in the spirit of the game, and said he had “no comprehension” why fans would want to interrupt the contest early. “I don’t accept it’ll probably happen,” he said. “I don’t see why it should happen, no comprehension of why it should happen.”
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“It’s not our game, so don’t you start writing it,” Bennett added. “It’s the respect of the game that’s the important thing here. We play for 80 minutes, you stay off the field regardless, and I believe in that. The end of the game, no problems.”
Souths chief Blake Solly also previously asked fans “to not immediately storm the field of play.”
