Canterbury Bulldogs general manager Phil Gould has declared there have been “too many contradictions” in Josh Addo-Carr’s story, as he prepares to front the NRL Integrity Unit.
Addo-Carr returned two positive results for a roadside drug test and has accepted the fine and three-month suspension from driving by NSW Police.
The Bulldogs winger missed the side’s elimination final against Manly as a result of the tests with his fate now in the hands of Gould and the club’s board.
Despite accepting punishment from NSW Police, Addo-Carr, through his lawyer, claims he “never knowingly ingested any illegal drugs”.
Phil Gould says there’s “too many contradictions” in Josh Addo-Carr’s story. Nine/Getty
Speaking on Wide World of Sports’ Six Tackles with Gus, Gould explained Addo-Carr’s version of events “changed slightly from day to day depending on what had been revealed”.
“At the end of the day what we have is a positive drug test, that there were drugs in his system last Friday night,” he said.
“I believe he’s still protesting his innocence in that. But at (sometime) he’s going to have to explain to himself and explain to people that matter exactly how that’s happened and why it’s happened. And then why we’ve gone through what we’ve gone through over the last week or so with that. It was certainly bad timing.
“I’m so proud of the club with the way they dealt with it, the way players and coaches put it out of their minds and got prepared for the weekend and performed the way they did.”
Gould revealed Addo-Carr’s meeting with the NRL Integrity Unit will take place on Thursday with the winger set to explain how cocaine entered his system.
“Around the world we’ve seen some bizarre explanations of how this might have happened or didn’t happen. Josh has got to find out how it happened, and then we have to act … it’s as simple as that,” he said.
Addo-Carr to front Integrity Unit
The Integrity Unit will then make a decision before it’s left to the Bulldogs to decide Addo-Carr’s future.
Gould – who has been strong on the Bulldogs’ values of ‘club first, team second, individual third’ – will be the one making that call before the board either accepts or pushes back on it.
“There’s a whole lot at play here, there’s a whole lot at play about the perception of our club, the image of our club, the standards we want to set, the culture of the young players coming through our system and also setting a precedent for what may come in the future,” he said.
“There’s a lot to consider but that’s what leadership is about, it’s about doing the right thing for our club and our culture and that’s what we’ll do.”
Asked whether he believes he hasn’t received the full story from Addo-Carr, Gould’s reply was simple: “Too many contradictions.”
