‘Embrace it’: Johnston calls for pitch invasion when try record falls
6 months ago - Sportingbase
Alex Johnston has called on the Rabbitohs fanbase to storm the field when he knocks down Ken Irvine’s long-standing tryscoring record, even as his club and the NRL try to warn fans away from a pitch invasion.
The South Sydney winger, who is now just three tries away from rugby league immortality, has said he’s been dreaming of a “fairytale” Buddy Franklin-style pitch invasion for when he cracks the record – and thinks the NRL “has to be ready.”
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“I am expecting people to storm the field. I definitely think it’s going to happen, particularly if it is in Sydney,” Johnston told the Telegraph. “I’m not telling people to do it, but speaking to fans, they’re all saying they’re going to do it anyway. From a fan’s point of view, I definitely think it should happen, and I want it to happen – to have everyone running at you.”
“I’m not telling fans to definitely do it, but it would be a massive moment and I think the NRL and Souths need to be prepared. They need to obviously make sure there’s a plan to get the play [started again] and security; I think it’s going to happen,” he continued.
“I am picturing everyone storming the field and lifting me up on their shoulders – this has all gone through my head.
“I’m excited for it to happen… it will be pretty special.”
That’s not quite how the NRL sees it, though; rugby league’s competition chiefs and South Sydney themselves have repetitively asked that “fans celebrate from the stands” and reminded spectators that entering the field carries a $5,500 fine and a ban.
“I can understand why Souths and the NRL don’t want it to happen but if I was a rugby league fan and a young kid, particularly a Souths fan, and one of your players is about to do something like that, I’d be excited to go to every game waiting for it to happen, and when I does, I would be sprinting on the field,” the South Sydney winger responded.
“From a selfish standpoint, I think it would be pretty cool to embrace it and have everyone celebrate with me.
“When things calm down, I will probably try and find my family so they can be among the excitement and I can enjoy it with them.”
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“Even though I’m not a massive AFL fan, everyone saw the footage of [Buddy] kicking his 1000th,” he said. “Everyone stormed the field and [we saw] how big a moment it was. Those scenes were crazy. It took an hour to get things back on track and return to play… to be compared to that moment, and people wanting to do the same thing, it’s pretty cool.”
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Johnston went on to admit it would also be “pretty special” to do it against the Sydney Roosters this weekend, considering the Bondi club stands as the Rabbitohs’ arch-rivals. This Sporting Base writer imagines there’s no rugby league fan – bar Roosters fans, of course – that wouldn’t want to see that story play out come the last round of the year.
“It would be absolutely nuts,” Johnston admitted.
“I scored five tries in one game against them [back in 2020], that was pretty special. If I can sort of recreate that, get a hat-trick against them in our last game of the season for us, to get this record, I don’t think it could be written any better.
“It’s weird – I don’t want to add fuel to the fire, but the rivalry is real.
“But three tries is a big ask because the Roosters are playing really good footy.”
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