being one of the few Blues players regarded as playing well in a series won 3-0 by Queensland, before being selected as the first choice halfback for Australia's mid-season tour of New Zealand. After making his test debut in the 26-6 first test win against New Zealand at the Queen Elizabeth II Park in Christchurch, and playing in the 8-0 second test win at Rotorua, Alexander lost his place in the side with coach Bob Fulton preferring his 1987 premiership winning halfback from Manly-Warringah, Des Hasler, in the position for the third and final test. During the 1989 NSWRL season, his pace and skill had made Penrith the second most dangerous attacking team in the competition behind the eventual premiers, the Canberra Raiders and Alexander was the Panthers leading try and point scorer and for much of the year led the league in try-scoring – scoring ten tries in eight games at one point, eventually finishing with 15 tries from 18 games for the season. Alexander would eventually finish second on the try-scoring list finishing behind Canberra fullback Gary Belcher who scored 17 tries. Alexander finished ahead of other noted try scorers including Andrew Ettingshausen (Cronulla), Ricky Walford (St George) and Phil Blake (South Sydney). Penrith's form saw them reach the finals for the first time since his rookie year in 1984, reaching the knockout Minor Semi-Final before ending their season with a 27–18 loss to Canberra. With Alexander in great form at both halfback and fullback for the Panthers, the club made it to their first ever Grand Final in 1990 against the defending premiers Canberra. The Panthers went down 18–14 to the Raiders and despite a solid performance, Alexander's goalkicking let him down on the day, only kicking one of his four attempts compared to Canberra captain Mal Meninga who landed all three of his attempts. Despite his good form, Alexander was only selected to the bench for game 3 of the 1990 State of Origin series and missed selection in Australia's mid-season tests against France and New Zealand. At the end of the season he was selected for his second Kangaroo Tour as the back up fullback to Canberra and Queensland custodian Gary Belcher and went on to be selected for every game on tour, although unlike Terry Lamb who played in every game on the 1986 tour, Alexander, along with the Kangaroo's other replacements that day