Canterbury Bulldogs football boss Phil Gould has hit back at rumours that the club is looking to offload winger Josh Addo-Carr.
The rumour mill erupted on Wednesday after the Eels had reportedly launched a bid to snag the superstar if the winger was released by Canterbury.
However, on Thursday, the Eels were joined by the Tigers, Dragons and Knights whose hats were thrown in the ring for Addo-Carr.
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The 28-year-old Addo-Carr is one of the NRL’s best wingers but had a tough end to the season.
He was knocked out at the Koori Knockout, banned for two matches and subsequently stood down from Australian duty.
The winger then came under fire after he compared the Israel conflict to Indigenous land rights, a post he apologised for the following day.
But after an unhappy season at the Bulldogs where he still scored 11 tries in 15 matches for the 15th placed Canterbury side, it had been reported that Addo-Carr had been at odds with club officials.
Speaking on Nine News, Phil Gould closed the door on the move.
“I don’t know who started these rumours. I don’t know why they started these rumours. I don’t know why people delve into these rumours, it’s got me beat,” he told 9News Sydney.
“I don’t know what’s going on with Josh Addo-Carr and why he’s in the papers at the moment.”
Addo-Carr had met with Gould who confirmed his future was safe at the club a fortnight ago.
Gould said the meeting wasn’t a crisis meeting, more checking on his welfare.
“Josh had an eventful couple of weeks and we just wanted to make sure that he was okay, make sure he was all settled down,” he said.
“He probably knows that he stepped out of the crease there a little bit, but people make mistakes, that’s the way it goes. As for the other rubbish in the papers, I don’t know where that came from.
“Josh Addo-Carr is a very important part of our club. He is very popular with the members and fans. He has come here for a reason – to help this club rebuild, and we’ll continue to do that.”
Gould said Addo-Carr was “vital” to the Bulldogs’ plans.
However, it hasn’t stopped the Eels seemingly leaving a door open for an enormous move.
It comes after The Eels reportedly broached the option of a player swap for Ryan Matterson, although the Bulldogs are looking to bolster their front row stocks after losing Tevita Pangai Jr, Luke Thompson, and Franklin Pele.
The club also signed Warriors forward Josh Curran to a multi-year-deal and he will join Stephen Crichton, Blake Taaffe, Bronson Xerri and Jaeman Salmon in joining the club.
But while the Bulldogs have been the most active club on the signing front for the past few years, Gould said the signing frenzy was not over yet.
“Not by any means,” he said. “We’re a couple of years into this program and we’ve virtually nearly turned the roster over in that time and we’ve done a lot of work in the junior pathways and a lot of young fellas coming through. Hopefully that all marries up in a couple of years time.”
But speaking on Triple M on Thursday before the Gould interview went live, Newscorp’s Brent Read said nothing was a certainty.
“I think with Gus Gould at the Dogs, I think guessing what’s going to happen with Josh Addo-Carr is full of peril because you don’t know,” Read said.
“Obviously there’s a lot of rumours going around about him at the moment, he’s had some off-field issues, he’s obviously missed the first couple of games of the Pacific Championships because of that. It was reported there were some concerns over his season, his form, his attitude and there are clubs waiting, there are clubs wanting a piece of Josh Addo-Carr.
“My sense is that he won’t be going anywhere but I think it’s more about putting Josh on notice and telling him that ‘hey mate, you need to play better, you need to get things right on the field’. That’s my sense of it all, but there are clubs waiting in the wings that would love to have Josh Addo-Carr on their roster.
“So if he is squeezed out of Canterbury, if things do go pear-shaped there, he’ll find a home somewhere else. He’s that good a footballer. And clubs will be falling over themselves to sign Josh Addo-Carr.”
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