Nathan Merritt had only just disappeared back down the tunnel when Alex Johnston’s hands reclaimed the crowd’s attention.
Well, his hands starred first. After that aerial intercept out of nowhere – on his own 10-metre line – his torso took the limelight with a neat pirouette, complete with a snap of the head to eye the empty field between him and Canterbury’s try line. Then his legs stole the show, sprinting 90 metres untouched to open South Sydney’s account.
It was his 97th try at Accor Stadium, from 99 games played at this venue. That statistic is absurd. But then, Johnston is the greatest tryscorer in NRL history. He has also been the Rabbitohs’ record tryscorer since 2022. Before that, however, it was held by another winger. Another club great. The man who had just rung Souths’ Legacy Bell four minutes earlier. Who was the centre of attention and focal point of celebration and confronting emotion before kick-off. Who, really, was the Alex Johnston before Alex Johnston.
Under Merritt’s gaze, it felt almost as Johnston he had scored for his predecessor. His fellow First Nations player. His friend. Who, at 42, has 12 months to live.
Earlier this week, when Merritt revealed his terminal prognosis for stage-four cancer of the liver and oesophagus, he described feeling as if his soul had been taken away.
A part of it hopefully returned to him on Good Friday when, in the throes of chemotherapy, he attended his first NRL game in more than two years to watch his Rabbitohs dismantle the Bulldogs 32-24.
“Pretty crook at the moment, so just taking it as it comes and enjoying each day as it comes,” the father of five told the Nine broadcast pre-game. “It’s a good day for me. I’ve got a box up there with 20 family and friends. It’s a great occasion for me to have a little bit of celebration about Souths and what I’ve done here, and just enjoy the moment as well.”
Merritt has acknowledged this match might be the last he can physically get to. And so, the club nominated him to ring the bell – a tradition dating back to its first game at Birchgrove Oval in 1908. As one of their champions, a trailblazer, and a local fixture.
“Devastating news for Nath. Very sad news,” Cody Walker said on the Fox Sports coverage. “He’s been a pioneer of our club and our local community in Redfern for ever. It’s a bit of a tough road ahead of him. We’re all thinking of him here at the Rabbitohs.”
As he sounded the bell and the players ran past him and out onto the field, there were pats on the back from those who knew him well. There were also, of course, boos from the blue and white portion of the 49,813 crowd to greet their long-time nemeses.
But there was something about the way Bulldogs fans had joined Souths fans to stand and clap only moments before that, when Merritt was introduced and the big screen played a tribute video showcasing the most magic of his 154 career tries, including 135 for the Rabbitohs. The way this person, briefly, became the glue uniting two antagonistic fan bases on what is traditionally one of the most antagonistic fixtures.
Similar to how Merritt was, during his playing days, the glue during many lean Souths years, scoring again and again. And don’t forget his lone career field goal – that spectacular match-winning one against the Wests Tigers at Sydney Cricket Ground, in the 80th minute and from 30 metres. Alight in the darkness. A soul where one had been lost for a while.
Yesterday, he reminisced once more about one of his favourite memories playing against the Bulldogs. “There was one year, I think it was 2013,” he told the Herald this week, “we came up with a trick play, and Adam Reynolds kicked it across field for me. We caught them off-guard on the opposite side of the field.”
And again he wished aloud that he’d been well enough to attend Allianz Stadium last month and be a part of the pitch-invading pandemonium accompanying Johnston’s record-breaking try against the Roosters.
“That was beautiful to watch,” he told Nine. “I was watching at home. It just made you feel like jumping into the TV and jumping on the field as well. It would have been a great moment to be there, out on the field.”
And so it felt right that Johnston had scored in the fourth minute. Deft hands and torso and legs, to honour all those things that came before.
