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NRL star Josh Addo-Carr says he’d back himself to be a hit in rugby union and would considering a code switch if Rugby Australia came knocking.
The Canterbury and NSW State of Origin winger told the Let’s Trot podcast, hosted by recently retired rugby league player Josh Mansour, that he would be keen to follow in the footsteps of Roosters recruit Joseph Suaalii.
“I played a few games growing up. I reckon I’d carve up,” Addo-Carr said. “100 per cent [I’d make the switch]. I reckon it would be fun, bro. Meeting new people, travelling the world. I’d give it a crack, bro. Yeah, why not? I’d gïve it a red hot go.”
While Hamish McLennan was boosterish about luring more NRL talent to union, RA’s new chairman Dan Herbert looked to wind back interest in his initial media conference this week.
“If the question is more around our interest in league players, I think this is a time to focus inwardly and concentrate on those in the game and making sure we protect and develop those that are in the game first of all,” Herbert told reporters.
Addo-Carr said the profile of rugby union was at a low.
(Photo by Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images)
“When I was growing up the Wallabies were massive – and I don’t want to be disrespectful to the players that are in the team now,” he said. “I used to know everyone in the side who are there now. I don’t know what it is but you just don’t see them as much any more,” he said.
Only last month Canterbury boss Phil Gould moved to ease rumours that Addo-Carr might be heading elsewhere, with four NRL clubs said to be interested in the 28-year-old.
He’s been in the midst of drama off the field too. He was banned for two games after being involved in a brawl at the Koori Knockout tournament and was forced to apologise for an anti-Israel social media post.
Western Force wing recruit Harry Potter has declared he wants to play for the Wallabies and not England despite his dual eligibility.
Potter, who was born in England before growing up in Australia, has joined the Force from Leicester Tigers having been part of their 2021-22 Premiership winning team.
“It was about coming back to Australia and coming to a place, being a part of a project moving on a really exciting trajectory,” Potter told Rugby.com.au.
“I was lucky enough to be at a club that was well-known worldwide and successful while I was there. It was a really great experience being there.
“The final year over there had some turbulence with the club and coaches leaving, it seemed like a good opportunity to get back to Australia and see if I could do something there.”
While at Leicester it was rumoured that then coach Eddie Jones was looking to cap him – but that never eventuated.
Steve Borthwick, (L) the Leicester Tigers director of rugby, celebrates with Harry Potter after their victory during the Gallagher Premiership Rugby Final match between Leicester Tigers and Saracens at Twickenham Stadium on June 18, 2022 in London, England. (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)
“I’m very much Australian,” Potter said. “I feel passionately about the Wallabies and Australian rugby and I wanted to get back to Australia and see what I could make.
“I’ve always thought that if I can play and help a team be successful and then be a consistent, dominant player in that team then the rest will sort itself out.
“My interest now is making the Force a successful team in Super Rugby and I believe we can do that and that’s what motivates me every day.”
Winning the World Cup may be the highlight of Jason Robinson’s career but even two decades later the cross code star has yet to watch a rerun of England’s historic victory over Australia.
Robinson was a central figure in the 20-17 victory, showing his acceleration to outpace Wallabies Mat Rogers and Wendell Sailor and touch down in the left corner shortly before half-time.
It was to be England’s only try on a gripping Sydney evening that was ultimately decided by Jonny Wilkinson’s drop-goal with 28 seconds of extra-time remaining.
Yet beyond snatched highlights showing the most compelling moments, Robinson relies on memory alone to shape his recollection of the pinnacle of English rugby history.
“I go to events and forever see the clips with me sliding in, Jonny’s kick and Johnno (Martin Johnson) lifting the trophy etc, but I’ve not watched the game,” Robinson told the PA news agency.
“All I’ve ever done is play a game and then it’s on to the next game, the next game, the next game. That’s how life has been. I’ve probably been conditioned not to get attached to any one game.
“Funnily enough my eight-year-old wants to watch the final so at some point I’m sure we’ll stick it on and watch it in full.
“Some games, you think they’re better than they are. And then you watch them and see that you weren’t that great! I might be seeing that in the 2003 game.”
It was far from the end of Robinson’s career and only a year later he became the first black man to captain England, with the last of his 51 caps won in the 2007 World Cup final defeat by South Africa.
The boots were eventually hung up in 2011 having paused retirement in order to play for lower league Fylde and while a spell in coaching was quickly aborted, he has continued to find work as a motivational speaker and brand ambassador.
For all that has happened since, however, it was that momentous night in 2003 that had the biggest impact on his own life while also touching a multitude of others.
“It was hard for your life not to change. You come back and see the impact that it’s made on grassroots sport and the impact it had on fans,” he said.
“You’re going to Downing Street and Buckingham Palace and getting honours. You go somewhere and can’t buy a pint – everyone wants to buy you a drink – and you’re not paying for restaurant bills.
“We had an exposure that we’d never had before and we were being recognised far more than ever before.
“That was good because it gave rugby a massive boost because it was the first time we’d won anything since 1966. It was fantastic for us as players and we got lots of opportunities off the back of it.
“There are very few days when someone doesn’t come to me and say ‘I remember where I was when…’
“And they start to tell the stories of what it meant to them and what they did as a result of it. That just shows that even 20 years on it’s still had such an impact, it’s been huge.
“Because it’s the 20th anniversary, I’m seeing a lot more of the boys. We’re doing a lot of stuff together and that’s been brilliant.
“When you get back together and start to reminisce, you learn stuff from each other even after 20 years – things like how you felt. It was a special time. The cameraderie is still strong.
“We are that special group to have won the World Cup and we’ll always be the first ones to have done it from the northern hemisphere. Winning it is the ultimate.”
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