Inside the round-the-clock recovery that has Addo-Carr on brink of Blues history
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Josh Addo-Carr is one four-pointer away from equalling the Blues all-time try-scoring record thanks to a six-month booze ban and six weeks of falling asleep with ice packs on his ankle.
Addo-Carr has trained outside Tom Trbojevic on NSW’s right wing without issue all week after cutting a projected two-month recovery time from ankle surgery almost in half.
After proving his fitness in his Bulldogs comeback just hours before Brad Fittler picked his Origin I side, Addo-Carr returns to the Blues fold with 10 tries from just 13 Origin appearances, one short of the all-time NSW record held by goal-kicking great Michael O’Connor (11 tries in 19 games) and former Eel Jarryd Hayne (11 tries from 23 games).
Addo-Carr’s impressive bounce back from being axed by Brad Fittler last year earned him a Kangaroos call-up for the 2022 World Cup, where he scored a tournament-high 12 tries from five games to cement his claims as the world’s best winger.
His return home and a truncated Bulldogs pre-season prompted Addo-Carr to give up alcohol, and a cherished Indigenous All Stars jersey as well, to give his best for both club and state.
“I’ve fallen asleep with the ice pack on and just done everything possible,” Addo-Carr said of his recovery from an eye-watering Good Friday injury suffered against South Sydney.
“I didn’t drink or anything and I just recovered the best I could. I’ve been off the booze since the World Cup started believe it or not.
“I just made a sacrifice before the season started that I was gonna stay off the booze. It takes a toll on you, it just fatigues you [if you are] on the booze all the time and the way we train and prepare these days, it’s just too hard.”
Addo-Carr clarified that he plans to celebrate with an obligatory Tooheys New tin if the Blues get up in Adelaide on Wednesday night, and that he joined teammates with a quiet beer during last week’s bonding session.
It’s “when you’re out to 5am and charging” that Addo-Carr has given up after watching the similarly successful booze-ban approaches taken by Maroons rival Cameron Munster and Blues teammate Api Koroisau last year.
Josh Addo-Carr: Back in blue and off the booze.Credit: Jessica Hromas
Addo-Carr refused to bite on suggestions Fittler had erred in leaving him out of what proved to be a 2022 losing series. The Blues coach had to track down his new phone number from Bulldogs boss Phil Gould last week, with Addo-Carr’s relentless competitiveness helping him recover in time for Origin when most assumed he was no chance for game one.
“I don’t want to make it about myself to be honest with you, it just wasn’t my time last year,” Addo-Carr said, assuring reporters he can still hit top-speed come Wednesday night.
“Whatever is best for the team, that’s the way I handled it. Everyone was saying, ‘Oh, this fella got back in four weeks or five weeks’ or whatever and in the back of my head I just wanted to beat whoever had this injury before.
“That’s the way I handled it and did everything possible, iced the f–k out of it, rested and didn’t drink. I’m just grateful and so excited to get the opportunity to put the jersey on because it means so much to myself and everyone in New South Wales.”
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