South Sydney winger Alex Johnston has signed a long-term contract extension, linking him to the club through to the end of 2025.
Johnston was already contracted for next season but has now added a further three years to his deal.
The local junior scored a career best 30 tries in 2021, cementing his status as one of the game's best finishers as Souths narrowly fell short of the premiership.
Johnston now has an incredible 136 tries in 166 first-grade appearances for the Rabbitohs and is only 10 short of Nathan Merritt's club record.
Johnston has been a mainstay of the team's left edge since making his debut in 2014 as South Sydney claimed a drought-breaking grand final win.
Of active players, Johnston is in the box seat to give all-time leading tryscorer Ken Irvine's record of 212 a serious nudge.
Appropriately, Johnston won his second consecutive Ken Irvine Medal for the competition's leading tryscorer this year.
"I’m stoked to be staying at the club for a further three years and hopefully it’s another step in staying as a one-club player," Johnston said.
"The last couple of years have been massive and I’ll be doing everything I can to ensure we go one step further than we did this year and win more premierships for this club.
"I think we have the players and coaches that can do just that and I’m stoked to be staying to play my role in that chase for premierships."
Rabbitohs football manager Mark Ellison spoke about Johnston following the announcement.
"He is a popular member of the squad and is becoming one of the leading senior players at the club," Ellison said.
"We’re very excited to be able to extend his contract for a further three years on top of his existing contract and look forward to seeing him score many more tries in that left corner in the years to come."
While Johnston will remain at Souths long-term, this off-season will see several high-profile personnel changes at Redfern.
Coach Wayne Bennett has departed, with Jason Demetriou to step into the hot seat, while Adam Reynolds has left for Brisbane, Dane Gagai to the Knights, Benji Marshall has retired and Jaydn Su'A joined the Dragons, among other departures.
Joining the club, Michael Chee Kam and Anthony Milford have signed one-year deals for 2022.
