Alex Johnston is now just three tries away from breaking Ken Irvine’s all-time record after the South Sydney winger crossed in the first half to give himself an outside chance of making history in the final round against the Roosters.

FOX LEAGUE, available on Kayo Sports, is the only place to watch every game of every round in the 2025 NRL Telstra Premiership, LIVE with no ad-breaks during play. New to Kayo? Get your first month for just $1. Limited-time offer >

MATCH CENTRE: Rabbitohs vs Dragons teams, scores, videos, updates

The veteran Rabbit is up to 210 tries on a night his side continued its strong finish to the year with a thumping 40-0 win over the Dragons who were never in the fight.

The Rabbitohs were already 12-0 up when the try-scoring machine crossed three minutes before half-time, although it’s a good thing this wasn’t the record-breaker because it would have been remembered for the missed forward pass.

Duncan’s final pass went at least a metre forward but was inexplicably missed by the officials, but it’s a moot point now with Johnston just two away from tying the record, with Souths fans hoping for something special against their fiercest rivals.

“I didn’t think the ref was game to take it off him,” Wayne Bennett said.

“It was marginal that pass.”

It’s a good thing he didn’t break it on Thursday with just 7213 fans turning up to Accor

Flanno: “Not tossing up any excuses!” | 03:54

Stadium following some appalling August weather in Sydney as the club celebrated its biggest win over the Dragons.

It looked like the record low of 5053 at the venue for a non-Covid affected NRL match was in jeopardy, but enough people rocked up to see Souths romp to their biggest win of the year with Tyrone Munro scoring a slashing try at the death.

GET IN THE BIN

Dragons fans were stunned Johnston’s try was allowed to stand after what appeared to be a clear forward pass from Tallis Duncan, and they had every right to be irate when referee Gerard Sutton failed to send Ashton Ward to the sin bin for a clear professional foul.

Ward did well to bring Kyle Flanagan down close to the line after a Jacob Liddle break, but he stayed around the legs as the Dragons halfback tried to play the ball.

It was a deliberate act and a clear sin bin, with Michael Ennis describing the non-call as “crazy” in commentary after Sutton allowed Ward to stay on the field.

DRAGONS FAIL TO FIRE

The Dragons have been punching above their weight for the past two months, but they simply ran out of gas on Thursday.

They played like a team missing three key forwards to head knocks, with the petrol tank running on empty after all the extra work their middles had to do across the ditch last week.

The Red V struggled to get into the red zone and came up with some costly errors which were punished in the first half, with Shane Flanagan hoping for a big bounce back with two home games to finish off the season.

“I could use that (the injuries) as an excuse, but Souths had a shorter turnaround than us and they’ve got injuries,” he said.

“We’re not tossing up any excuses. If I start tossing up excuses then I become one of the weak ones.”

RELIVE THE ACTION IN OUR BLOG BELOW. CAN’T SEE IT? CLICK HERE.

TEAMS

Rabbitohs team: 1. Jye Gray 2. Alex Johnston 3. Isaiah Tass 4. Tallis Duncan 5. Tyrone Munro 6. Ashton Ward 7. Jamie Humphreys 8. Sean Keppie 9. Siliva Havili 10. Keaon Koloamatangi 11. Jacob Host 12. Jai Arrow 13. Lachlan Hubner 14. Peter Mamouzelos 15. Brandon Smith 16. Cody Walker 17. Thomas Fletcher. 18th man: 18. Shaquai Mitchell

Dragons team: 1. Clinton Gutherson 2. Christian Tuipulotu 3. Hayden Buchanan 4. Mathew Feagai 5. Corey Allan 6. Lyhkan King-Togia 7. Kyle Flanagan 8. Emre Guler 14. Jacob Liddle 10. David Klemmer 11. Luciano Leilua 12. Jacob Halangahu 9. Damien Cook 13. Ben Murdoch-Masila 15. Blake Lawrie 16. Loko Jnr Pasifiki Tonga 18. Raymond Faitala-Mariner. 18th man: 17. Tyrell Sloan