Daniel Tupou scored a double in the Roosters' loss to the Storm on Thursday night and is now officially one of the greatest finishers the game has ever seen — though some casual fans would hardly know it.
The long-serving Sydney Roosters winger crossed for his 177th career try last night, moving past Brett Morris into outright fifth on the all-time NRL try-scoring list, and he shows no signs of slowing down.
At 33 years of age, Tupou remains a key cog in the Roosters' attacking edge and is now highly likely to move past Steve Menzies in fourth all-time (180 tries) and within striking distance of Billy Slater’s 190 — a mark that would move him into the top three.
Above them both, Alex Johnston continues his own historic pursuit as the player most have spoken about as likely to end up topping the great Ken Irvine’s long-standing record.
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The South Sydney flyer sits on 207 tries, just five short of equalling Irvine’s all-time premiership record of 212, which has stood for over half a century and was long thought untouchable.
Johnston, 29, has led the competition in tries multiple times and has benefited from a prolific Rabbitohs left edge over the years, helping him charge past modern greats and becoming perhaps the biggest roadblock to Tupou creating history.
While Johnston remains the clear favourite to ultimately overtake Irvine, his future at the Rabbitohs is uncertain beyond the next season, and with the club struggling for consistency, his try-scoring opportunities have slowed somewhat this year.
Tupou, meanwhile, has built his try tally through sheer consistency and longevity. Since debuting in 2012, he has rarely been the centre of media attention — yet has quietly racked up one of the most remarkable careers of most wingers.
His 177 tries have come in just over 250 games, a remarkable strike rate highlighted by his aerial wizardry that has made him a target for cross-field bombs for more than a decade.
Despite Tupou's gaudy strike rate of 0.62 tries per game, he does trail Johnston by a margin in that category, suggesting Johnston has him beat. But playing one more season in 2027 could change history.
Tupou is contracted for next season, but at that point, he will be 34 years of age — which on the surface appears to be the death knell for his pursuit of becoming rugby league’s greatest try scorer.
On Tupou's current strike rate he is likely to be a few tries off the 200 milestone by the end of his 2026 contract, or he may even surpass it with some finals matches added and a flurry of form.
The factor that works in Tupou’s favour, though, is often widely overlooked — he has been extremely durable despite his age, featuring in all but one match for the Roosters this year and routinely playing seasons of 20-plus games.
Along with that, Tupou’s form is as good as ever, with his consistency a modern marvel, showing no significant drop in performance over much of his career.
If he were to play one additional season in 2027, and assuming Alex Johnston isn’t re-signed past his current 2026 extension, the numbers say Tupou will be crowned the NRL's all-time try scorer — probably to the disbelief of many.
That is, however, the perfect example of Daniel Tupou’s career — sometimes overlooked, but always professionally consistent in his performances, which is something that is never overlooked by Roosters fans or any teammate that has taken the field with the 6'5" winger.
When the two biggest factors in ending an athlete’s career are maintaining the same level of performance and age, it becomes easier to see why Tupou could achieve the impossible.
The try-scoring race is heating up with the 2025 season shaping up as a historic one — and two of the NRL’s most prolific wingers are leading the charge.
Rugby league is full of unbelievable stories and feats, and how remarkable would it be if Ken Irvine’s record is not just surpassed, but surpassed by two current try-scoring machines.
Both Johnston and Tupou will make history this season and next, that much is certain. The question is just how much they can add to their tallies by the time the chapter closes on each of their storied careers.