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Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n AAA<\/p>\n Penrith flyer Tom Jenkins had never heard of Dave Brown until it emerged he was a chance of doing the unthinkable in rugby league \u2013 breaking his 91-year try-scoring record this season.<\/p>\n Brown scored 38 tries for Easts during the 1935 season in 15 games. Newtown\u2019s Ray Preston bagged 34 tries in 1954, while South Sydney\u2019s Alex Johnston<\/a> got 30 tries in 2021 and again in 2022.<\/p>\n Johnston, who remains the only player in the NRL era to score 30 tries in a season and has 19 this campaign, was meant to go up against Jenkins and Penrith on Friday night before he was grounded by a calf injury.<\/p>\n Which leaves Jenkins as the only hope of toppling Brown.<\/p>\n Jenkins has 22 tries in 15 games, and requires 17 tries from nine remaining regular-season games, and possibly three or four finals, depending on how Penrith progresses in the finals.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s definitely doable, but having said that, I could score a double one week, then go a few weeks without getting across the line, so who really knows,\u201d Jenkins said of breaking the record.<\/p>\n \u201cI actually hadn\u2019t heard of Dave Brown until this year when there was talk about the record. For him to score 38 tries, he was clearly doing something right.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u201cI probably got asked about the tries more at the start of the year when I was on that streak [16 tries in the first seven games].<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s cool, it\u2019s mad, and there\u2019s no way I\u2019m playing down the fact it\u2019s an awesome.<\/p>\n \u201cBut at the end of the day, they\u2019re just tries. Defence wins games, and I\u2019d rather see us win 2-0. As long as we win and keep playing our style of footy, that\u2019s all that matters.\u201d<\/p>\n Jenkins rated his aerial try, when he leapt over Canterbury winger Marcelo Montoya<\/a>, a personal favourite this season, along with the rare long-range try<\/a> when he bagged four against the Roosters.<\/p>\n The 25-year-old was given the nickname \u201cMilky\u201d by a former coach, Lee Hopkins, because of his porcelain skin \u2013 not his moustache that looks like a milk stain. Jenkins says he has never been sunburnt during a hot Penrith pre-season.<\/p>\n He grew up in Boorowa, a dot on the map about an hour\u2019s drive west of Canberra, and played with the Young Cherrypickers. He also helped install giant wind turbines when COVID struck and he was forced to return home to live with his folks and three siblings.<\/p>\n A day after he signed a contract extension with the Panthers a couple of weeks ago, Jenkins had a memory pop up on his phone from seven years ago.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was the day I signed my first deal with Penrith,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was worth about $5000, maybe $7500, plus a living-away-from-home allowance.<\/p>\n Jenkins knows if he is going to continue getting across the line, including on Friday night at CommBank Stadium, he will need to come up with a try celebration, rather than booting the ball into the stands with his left boot.<\/p>\n \u201cI need something, don\u2019t I?,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u201cI used to be able to do backflips as a kid. If I did one now, chances are I\u2019d break an ankle or something, and [coach] Ivan Cleary would shoot me. Or worse, yell at me. We\u2019ll see what happens if I can think of something before Souths.\u201d<\/p>\n With Jenkins threatening on the left wing, Penrith will have the added bonus of Brian To\u2019o attacking Souths on the other side of the field after his NSW Origin snub.<\/p>\n \u201cI was disappointed for him because I know how hard he works and what kind of person he is,\u201d Jenkins said of To\u2019o\u2019s omission from the Blues team for Origin III.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Save<\/p>\n You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n![\"Record](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/a1266c697b980a7e5dfc4c255596359f56589a60.jpeg\")
Record hunter: Penrith\u2019s Tom Jenkins will look to build on his try-scoring tally on Friday night.Getty Images<\/p>\n![\"Tom](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/d0b4afeef4a01b28ad40dab87b58f6d25f53a4b1.jpeg\")
Tom Jenkins has a nose for the tryline.Getty Images<\/p>\n