Phil Gould comments on Josh Addo-Carr exit rumours
“We’ll do what we think is in the best long term interest of the club.”
Ever since Addo-Carr failed two roadside drug tests, which ruled him out of the 2024 NRL Finals, there has been chatter that he may have played his final match for the club, as his future at Belmore remains uncertain.
Linked with an exit from the club on Monday, many journalists and pundits believe that the $550,000-a-season winger could be on the lookout for a new team as early as the end of this week and before the end of his current contract, which expires at the end of the 2025 season.
However, Gould has broken his silence on the matter and stated that “it’s too early to say”, but hasn’t shut down the rumours insisting that the decision regarding Addo-Carr’s future will be in the “best long term interest of the club”.
“Right at the moment there’s a process to go through…he has to front the NRL Integrity Unit this week, they rang today and asked for a Zoom meeting with him, so we’ve passed that on to his manager who’s organising that meeting for him,” Gould said on 100% Footy.
“The players this week have their final medicals to see how they’re all going at the moment, he has got a little injury at the moment, then they go through some exit interviews and assess their season.
“At the end of the day what’ll happen is, I’ll come up with a decision on what I think the future of Josh Addo-Carr and the club should be as a partnership and I’ll take that to the board and discuss it with the people that count.
“They may or may not take my recommendation, they may have another point of view.
“We’ll sit down and discuss it. At the end of the day we’ll do what we think is in the best long term interest of the club, it’s as simple as that and all the players understand that.”
Gould also revealed that he has not spoken with Addo-Carr since his second positive test.
“I believe he’s still protesting his innocence. At the end of the day it’s in his system when he takes a drug test on Friday night,” he added.
“How it got there? He needs to work that out and explain that to the people that count, sooner or later.
“It was certainly disappointing from a club perspective. It was certainly bad timing from a club perspective, it wasn’t good.”
Nicknamed ‘The Foxx’, Addo-Carr arrived at the Bulldogs ahead of the 2022 NRL season and has since featured in 52 games and scored 38 tries for the club.
This came after he had stints with the Wests Tigers (2016) – nine matches and six tries – and the Melbourne Storm (2017-21) – 118 matches, 96 tries and one goal.
A two-time premiership winner with the Storm in 2017 and 2020, he has also represented the Australian Kangaroos on seven occasions and the NSW Blues in 15 Origin matches.