MARK ‘SPUDD’ CARROLL: Alex Johnston NRL try-scoring celebration ruined Souths’ chances of beating Roosters

Thank God that’s over.

Surely Wayne Bennett and I weren’t the only ones thinking that after Alex Johnston broke rugby league’s try-scoring record on Friday night.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s a fantastic achievement and one worth celebrating.

I only scored 12 tries in my career so to touch down 213 times is something truly remarkable and a feat Johnston is rightly proud of.

The scenes at Allianz Stadium were amazing – especially those pictures shot high from above – but something still didn’t sit right with me.

I’m not trying to be a killjoy but it was the impact it had on the game itself I didn’t enjoy.

The playing arena is for players and I am truly glad nothing untoward happened when thousands of people mobbed Alex and the players around him.

Rugby league people, on the whole, are decent and made sure there were no unsavoury incidents.

But to see both teams retreat to their dressing-rooms and sit it out for around half an hour ate away at me.

I was restless enough in my lounge-room so I can only imagine how the players felt.

It killed the game’s momentum and, as it turned out, Souths’ chances of winning the game.

And that’s what Wayne Bennett was on about when he had a mini meltdown in the post-match presser.

He knows he’s got a team full of talent but one that struggles to focus for an entire 80 minutes.

That’s why he was not over the moon the week before when the Rabbitohs opened the season with a 40-30 win over the Dolphins.

He looked at the 30 points conceded and knew that sort of effort would not cut it against the big guns.

Cooper Cronk summed it up well as he watched Bennett attempt to re-focus his players during the impromptu break at Allianz Stadium, declaring: “Bennett knows he’s got a flighty team.

“When they’re on, they’re going to be great. And when they’re down, they’re going to come up with errors that really puts them under pressure.”

And that’s exactly how it played out.

The Roosters, who had more reason to moan about the circumstances they found themselves in than Souths, were able to regather their thoughts and go again.

From 12-all after Johnston’s four-pointer was converted a good 30 or so minutes after he scored his record-breaking 213th try, the Chooks controlled the rest of the game to claim the precious two points.

The poor old Bunnies were still in celebration mode and forgot there was a job to do.

No wonder Wayne gave us his Clint Eastwood routine, saying through gritted teeth: “We were out there trying to win a game of football and all of a sudden it stops and breaks all the momentum.”

Told the fans didn’t listen to the edict about not rushing the field, he continued: “No, they didn’t. It sounds like my players.”

WHACK!

Bennett doesn’t do parties - he’d be the type to call the cops as soon as it got noisy and have the whole thing shut down.

You’d either be brave or a compete idiot to bring up the try-scoring record in Wayne’s company this week.

AND DON’T GET ME STARTED

I don’t care how many times Ivan Cleary says no to the PNG Chiefs, they must keep chasing him as their inaugural coach for 2028.

Throw as much Papua New Guinean kina you can at him because he will repay the investment 10 times over.

And he might just bring that halfback son of his with him to give the fledging franchise a fighting chance of being competitive in their first season.

Ivan’s coaching record speaks for itself – five successive grand finals appearances for four straight wins won’t be matched anytime soon.

But it’s as much as what he does when the team is not firing as to when they are that puts him a class above and should have the Chiefs – and every other NRL club – chasing him when he comes off contract at the end of next year.

We all know the Panthers overcame a poor start to last season to storm into the finals and make it to within one game of another decider.

That was a remarkable achievement in itself.

But the Panthers boss was not satisfied – far from it.

He knew the late run only camouflaged the shortcomings in Penrith’s game and a big fix was needed over summer.

Premierships are built on defence and Ivan went about rebuilding the system that had served his team so well for so long.

After two rounds of last season, the Panthers had conceded 60 points.

This year, at the same time, they have had only six points put on them.

It’s a smart coach who can recognise the fault lines before they turn into full blown earthquakes and remedy the situation over a pre-season.

Penrith also have the added advantage of being the chaser, not the chased.

After missing out on last year’s title, the hunger has returned in a big way and the Panthers are no longer taking the short-cuts they did last year.

Brisbane are already finding out just how hard it is to defend a premiership.