Josh Addo-Carr, in a dreadful example of bad timing combined with terrible behavior, has once again insulted Bulldogs club bosses and wasted the time of Peter V’landys, the boss of the game.
Addo-Carr was meant to have a high-level meeting with ARL Commission chairman V’landys just days before he was involved in a brawl at the Koori Knockout on the Central Coast.
Bulldogs general manager Phil Gould held a meeting to assist Addo-Carr in preparing for life beyond football. Due to his selection in the Australian Prime Minister’s XIII to play Papua New Guinea on September 30—a match he later withdrew from—Addo-Carr was a late withdrawal from the meeting. Mario Tartak, Addo-Carr’s agent, and the star winger’s partner were in his corner.
Towards the end of Addo-Carr’s tenure with the Bulldogs and after his retirement, Gould proposed that he serve as the spokesperson for Indigenous rugby league. That belies rumors that the two have had continuous problems and demonstrates how much respect Gould has for Addo-Carr.
If Gould has now lost faith in Addo-Carr it would be understandable. Bulldogs officials and all of those who have gone out of their way to support him have been let down in recent times by his actions.
Addo-Carr lost his cool at the Koori Knockout, and even his closest supporters say he has got what he deserved in terms of his two-match ban, $5000 fine and exclusion from the Kangaroos for the Pacific Championships. His teammates on the day and those who saw the event say there was no real excuse for his actions.
Addo-Carr then posted on social media on Wednesday about the conflict between Israel and Palestine, and then had to apologise for that as well. It was embarrassing for the Bulldogs and another problem they didn’t need to deal with. V’landys won’t comment about Addo-Carr’s off-field indiscretions but confirmed the meeting.
“I was happy to have the meeting because not enough is done to help players transition into retirement,” he said. “It’s a major issue, and when Phil Gould asked for the meeting I was only too happy to meet with them and try and plan something for Josh and his family. I’m open to meeting with players who have ideas about what they’d like to do and I’ll assist where I can.”
Hunt’s annus horribilis
Ben Hunt has labelled 2023 a “year to forget”, but says he is “pretty settled” and has come to terms with the fact he will be at the Dragons in 2024.
Hunt could be excused for being underwhelmed by the club’s lack of recruitment for next year — which could well be his last with the Red V, even though he is contracted for 2025 — but he is trying to present a positive outlook.
“My message to the fans is just hang in there,” he said. “I mean, I think there’s some good things coming around the corner. I really believe that. Flanno [Shane Flanagan] was a good signing for the club. He’s a great coach. He’s a guy that knows how to get things done and now I think there’s gonna be some good times ahead for him and the club.”
Hunt has been forced to stay and you get the feeling he’d still leave if he could. When it’s put to him it’s been an “interesting” year, he says: “Interesting is a really good way to describe it … it’s been a pretty crazy one; one I’ll probably want to forget really.”
Our revelation in June that Hunt wanted an immediate release from the club to return to Queensland to play triggered an avalanche of media. The emotional toll was significant.
“It started to [take a toll] towards the back end of the season, to be honest,” he said. “You know, the couple of months after Origin, the media wasn’t going away. I know what people were saying.
Standing down as captain never really crossed my mind. A couple of people mentioned that to me and things like that. But I love the group of guys that we have down there and I felt like I was the best guy to lead them.”
Hunt wanted to make it clear his desire to leave wasn’t because of the playing roster.
CIt never had anything to do with the players,” he said. “It has to do with wanting to win. I’m going to be there next year. I’ve had a chat with Flanno. He’s told me a couple of little things that he expects from me and whatnot, but he mostly said that he’s just gonna wait to get back at pre-season. He did tell me he wants me to be halfback.
“I’m pretty good now. I was on a roller coaster up there for a while but I get into the off-season opportunity to come in here [Kangaroos camp] and clear my head. A lot of what it comes down to is wanting to win. That’s most of it. I’ve been playing the game for a long time now and not got too many years left, you know, so I just want to win.”