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Opinion
Wingers are rarely given the captaincy of NRL teams but Canterbury should go back to the future and hand the leadership reins to Josh Addo-Carr next year.
Look past the laugh and the carefree attitude and The Foxx has a killer instinct.
He brought a healthy dose of the Melbourne Storm attitude to Belmore this year, helping to drive higher standards at training, on the playing field and at all points in between.
With club stalwart Josh Jackson making the surprising decision on Thursday to hang up his boots at 31 despite having another year left on his deal, Addo-Carr looms as the Bulldogs’ best option for the captaincy in 2023.
He filled in once during the season when Jackson was injured and led the Dogs to an upset 16-12 victory over the Roosters.
(Photo by Jan Kruger/Getty Images for RLWC)
Back in the early 1980s, the Bulldogs bucked the trend by giving Chris Anderson the captaincy and he revelled in the role before winning trophies in the UK as a captain-coach with Halifax and then coaching Canterbury and Melbourne to premiership success in the 1990s.
Canterbury are undergoing another off-season of roster upheaval with Jackson’s departure coming on the back of forwards Jack Hetherington and Joe Stimson joining the Knights and Titans respectively, hooker Jeremy Marshall-King becoming a foundation Dolphin and Paul Vaughan and Matt Dufty heading to the Super League.
They’re boosting their star power with the addition of Panthers second-rower Viliame Kikau, Eels hooker Reed Mahoney and Raiders forward Ryan Sutton.
One of those three could be options to be skipper or incoming coach Cameron Ciraldo could look to Addo-Carr’s Kangaroos teammate Matt Burton but at 22, the rising star has enough on his plate as the team’s chief playmaker and goalkicker to also burden him with the captaincy at a young age.
After being snubbed by NSW Origin selectors this year, Addo-Carr is currently making up for lost time by running amok with the Australian team at the World Cup, touching down six times to be the tournament’s leading tryscorer after the first two group games.
(Photo by Jason McCawley/Getty Images)
Blues coach Brad Fittler’s decision to brush Addo-Carr for Daniel Tupou as Brian To’o’s wing partner was strange at the time and only looks worse in hindsight.
He argued that Tupou’s extra height would be necessary against Queensland’s tall wingers. Addo-Carr is slightly taller than To’o but for some reason, his lightning pace and ability to create attack out of nothing were considered less important than Tupou’s aerial finishing.
You can be sure the Queenslanders were much happier seeing Tupou lining up on the flank rather than Addo-Carr after he had put 10 tries on them in the previous 12 Origins.
He only needs two more to surpass Michael O’Connor and Jarryd Hayne as the Blues’ most prolific tryscorer in Origin history.
The Maroons laugh when they see NSW treat their loyal servants with such contempt.
Addo-Carr took his Origin omission on the chin and kept delivering for Canterbury even though the team was struggling.
The Indigenous All Stars speedster still managed to rack up 16 tries for the Bulldogs to finish equal sixth overall in the NRL, proving he doesn’t need to be on the end of a slick Storm backline to continue his prolific ways which have now netted him 118 four-pointers in just 150 matches.
With Tupou electing to play for Tonga at the World Cup and To’o deciding to represent Samoa, Addo-Carr has been one of Australia’s top performers in the first fortnight of the tournament.
After snaring a double in the Kangaroos’ 42-8 win over Fiji to open their World Cup title defence, Addo-Carr notched four in the 84-0 cakewalk against Scotland last Saturday night.
(Photo by Jan Kruger/Getty Images for RLWC)
He is being rested for this weekend’s final group game against Italy but he will be one of the first names on the team sheet when Mal Meninga comes up with his first-choice 17 for the quarter-finals.
Kangaroos assistant coach Michael Hagan said he had been impressed by Addo-Carr’s instinctive ability to know when an attacking raid was brewing.
“His confidence and his ability to always be around the ball has been excellent. He’s been great to watch,” he said.
“He’s got guys like Nathan Cleary and Cameron Munster on the inside feeding him the ball but his anticipation of where he needs to be is amazing.
“It makes a difference when you’ve got blokes who know where to be. His form’s been a revelation.
“I think he’s showing everyone he deserves to be in the team.”