Nathan Merritt is on the threshold of setting South Sydney’s all-time tryscoring record, but the four-pointers have dried up for the prolific winger heading into Friday’s NRL qualifying final against Melbourne.
One of the great NRL finishers of recent times, Merritt is just one try off equalling the Rabbitohs’ record of 144 set by Benny Wearing, who played from 1921-1933.
But Merritt, 30, has found tries hard to come by of late after a sizzling start to the season.
He notched hat-tricks in two of the first three rounds and had 11 on the board after 10 rounds.
But Merritt has scored just two in the last nine rounds, which included a rare five-game stint without a four-pointer.
He looked certain to equal Wearing’s record last Friday against the Roosters, but was scythed down by Anthony Minichiello, in arguably the season’s most celebrated try saving tackle.
“I’ve seen him coming, maybe I need to work on my speed, eh,” Merritt told AAP on Tuesday.
“Old legs it must be, I’m not too sure.’
In his second stint with Souths, local junior Merritt would surely already have secured the record had he not spent two seasons at Cronulla in the middle of the last decade.
“It will be a great achievement for me, something that I look back on when my career is finished … if I break it,” Merritt said.
Souths’ second longest serving player behind five-eighth John Sutton, Merritt is at a loss to explain why the Rabbitohs have such a dire record against Melbourne.
“I’m not too sure mate, it’s just a matter of us doing what we have to do to prepare ourselves,” Merritt said.
“Melbourne are a great team but our focus is on trying to improve ourselves and improve on what we’ve done last week.
“We’ve just got to put it back to ourselves.”