The Bulldogs winger might have played his final game for the NRL club.
New details about Josh Addo-Carr’s family situation have come to light amid a delay over where his future lies with the Canterbury Bulldogs. The star winger was hit with a breach notice by the NRL over three weeks ago after a positive road-side drug test.
His future at the Bulldogs is under a huge cloud, and the Dragons reportedly offered a swap deal for fellow winger Makaile Ravalawa. Bulldogs head of football Phil Gould has stated Addo-Carr needs to decide whether he wants to remain at the club or leave, but the situation has seemingly hit a roadblock and things have stalled.
But on Thursday morning, leading journalist Michael Carayannis explained that Addo-Carr’s partner is just about to give birth to their second child, and he’s putting his full focus into that before making a decision on his future. “His partner is about to give birth at any moment – if it hasn’t happened already,” Carayannis said on SEN radio. “So he’s put things on the back-burner a little bit.”
Phil Gould urges Josh Addo-Carr to decide where his future lies
Addo-Carr has continued to claim he doesn’t know how the cocaine that was detected at a roadside test got into his system, vehemently denying he took illicit drugs. Canterbury bosses are yet to decide what action they will take against him, but there remains every chance he has played his last game for the club.
Speaking late last month, Gould said it was up to Addo-Carr whether he wanted to remain at the Bulldogs. “I spoke to his manager the other day, and all I’ve asked the manager and Josh to do is to consider their own future, what they think is best, (and) for him to sit down quietly with his family and have a think about what’s happened,” he said.
“I like Josh. He’s been very good for our club, he’s certainly been an asset to us. It’s unfortunate that he keeps letting himself down in this regard at different times. I want him to consider what’s best for his future and then come back and have a talk to me.”
Addo-Carr was stood down from the Bulldogs’ finals game against Manly, which they lost in heartbreaking fashion. “It’s disappointing for Josh and his family, it’s disappointing for our club,” Gould said. “It came at a bad time, but I thought our club handled it really well and performed great in the semi final against Manly. Josh is getting to that stage of his career – he needs to make a decision on where he wants to play, and what the future looks like.”
Could Josh Addo-Carr end up at South Sydney?
League legend Andrew Johns has previously suggested Addo-Carr would be a good fit at the Rabbitohs due to their Indigenous heritage and community. “I’d like to see him go to South Sydney under Wayne (Bennett),” Johns said. “Their outside backs are Taane Milne, Tyrone Munro and Alex Johnston – but he ruptured his Achilles. I think he would fit in with the Indigenous (players). It would be nice to see him go to the Bunnies, he’d be a really good fit.”
Addo-Carr is good mates with Rabbitohs fullback Latrell Mitchell. But whether or not Bennett wants to take on the extra responsibility of getting both Mitchell and Addo-Carr back on track after recent dramas remains to be seen.
