He's South Sydney Rabbitohs' top try scorer, but Alex Johnston is showing off his skills in the literature world.
He's released a children's book, A Footy Tail, which is heartwarmingly dedicated to his firstborn bub, Sonny.
The story tells the tail of the Bunnies, a rugby league team down on its luck.
With the help of their friend, the Crow, the bunnies welcome three new players and manage to bring home the win.
"The crow gets us three fellas and we join the team and the bunnies end up winning some games," said Johnston.
"It's thanks to all the different animals working together with unity, they can achieve great things."
Alex Johnston of the Rabbitohs in action during the round nine NRL match between Brisbane Broncos and South Sydney Rabbitohs at Suncorp Stadium. Credit: Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images
He'd spent hours reading to Sonny and thought it would be special if he could read to him his own creation.
"That was the genesis of it, I wanted to write something for him," he said.
Bringing together is love of rugby league, his passion for his culture and his loyalty to the Rabbitohs, Johnston created the first draft of A Footy Tail in a day.
From there, Johnston approached a publisher and started researching to find the right illustrator for the job.
"Being an Indigenous man myself, I wanted a First Nations artist to do it," he said.
Johnston picked proud Kamilaroi and Euahlayi man Greg Dreise, who filled the pages with incredible art.
"When you have a look at the book, it's got Aboriginal artwork all throughout," Johnston said.
"I'm super stoked that Greg jumped on board."
While this might be the first book Johnston's written, he's determined it won't be the last.
"I feel in love with the process," he said.
"I've written a couple [more books], I'm just waiting to see how A Footy Tail goes, once it's out and hopefully goes well. I'll knock on the publisher's door with a couple more, see how we go from there!"
But, whatever feedback comes his way, the most important was from Sonny.
While Johnston admits his first reading of the book to Sonny was a bit forced, he now loves it.
"He loves footy in itself, once I started reading, he realised and now it's his favourite book," he laughed.
"We read it every night.
"I wish I could say Alex the Croc was his favourite character, he's way more interested in Cody the Goanna or Trell the roo."
A Footy Tail hits shelves on October 3rd.
