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Souths NRL star keeps racking up the tries

His NRL side is struggling, but South Sydney speedster Alex Johnston's tryscoring instincts remain razor sharp.

Alex Johnston
Alex Johnston crosses for his 17th try of the season against St George Illawarra last Friday. (AAP)

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Source: AAP


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Two of his major rivals for the mantle of top NRL tryscorer play for the competition pacesetters, but South Sydney's Alex Johnston is proving he can keep pace, even when his team is struggling.

With four rounds remaining, the 22-year-old Rabbitoh has logged 17 tries, the same tally as Melbourne's Suliasi Vunivalu,

Hot on their heels and just one try behind are another Storm flyer, Josh Addo-Carr and Canberra's Jordan Rapana.

Vunivalu moved level with Johnston last weekend after bagging a brace against North Queensland while the Rabbitoh crossed once against St George Illawarra,

Johnston is trying not to get too caught up in the race to top the tryscoring chart or the season, but was conscious Vunivalu had moved alongside him at the head of the list.

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"I'm not really going to focus (on it) too much," Johnston said.

"I just want to play some good footy and if I happen to be up there by the end of the season it will be pretty good for me."

Johnston is well on his way to becoming Souths leading tryscorer for the fourth time in as many seasons since making his debut in 2014,.

"'I'm trying to score each week, but I think thats just the by product of playing some good footy," Johnston said.

Primarily a winger, Johnston has also played several games at fullback this season in the absence of injured superstar Greg Inglis.

"I've been trying to grow at fullback and be more comfortable there," Johnston said.

"Obviously I've played most of my career on the wing so far, so I'm really just trying to improve."

South Sydney appearance record holder John Sutton believes Johnston will get a permanent crack at fullback sometime in the future.

But he pointed out it was only just over a month ago that the man affectionately known as AJ, scored five tries in a game against Penrith while playing on the wing.

"I'd like to see Greg (Inglis) at fullback and AJ with his speed on the wing, but down the track I'm sure he (Johnston) would love to play fullback and I'm sure he'll get his shot," Sutton said.


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