Before Todd Carney was a Shark, he was supposed to be the answer for the Roosters. In 2011, he was the reigning Dally M player of the year.
His comeback story is one of the most inspiring NRL stories of this decade: a washed up, cast-away prodigy who should have known better.
In 2010 he was given a second chance and he grasped onto it with his commitment, and talent. He was a legend in the making.
Todd Carney and Mitchel Pearce would have combined to be one of the most energetic and lethal halves combinations since perhaps Andrew and Matthew Johns. I enjoyed the way they played together; they complimented each other well, like yin and yang. Pearce would control the game with his superb kicking, he is the kind of guy you can rely on, as long as you don’t expect him to do extraordinary things.
He is not surgical yet but you can tell he is going to develop into a class act. He is the halfback solution for NSW and in time you know he is going to be an automatic selection for the Kangaroos after Jonathan Thurston retires.
Pearce may not be the game winner every weekend, but the fans know that when the Roosters lose, the loss will not be on him.
Then you have got Carney, he provides the spark and is a proven game changer. It was just magical watching him play; he can run through gaps, slice through tackles, kick for the wingers; he can do all of that while being one of the most prolific goal-kickers in the league.
He is an offensive weapon of mass destruction, but the special thing about Carney is his instinct. As a person, he is not the sharpest tool in the toolshed, much like Andrew Johns, but on the field he does things not many other players are capable of.
Todd Carney wanted to be a Rooster for life. The Roosters were supposed to win at least a couple of premierships with this pair of young stars.
Then something went wrong, no one can pinpoint the exact moment when Carney snapped and was never the same again. I don’t think even Carney knows that, but he will be up in the middle of the night thinking about this, perhaps for the rest of his life.
It has become a topic Roosters fans speculate about at the pub after every loss, every court appearance, and every news article. But I guess, like other great mysteries, we will never know the truth.
He is now a Shark, and perhaps with his third (or fourth or fifth) chance at redemption, he will bring a premiership to the shire.
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