Josh Addo-Carr credits a challenging pre-season and a chat with the coach for his rise to first-grade regular this year.
Addo-Carr had a mixed rookie season in the NRL with the Wests Tigers in 2016 but feels like he is starting to find his feet in the top grade. He leads Storm’s all-run metres (2658), line breaks (17) and is second behind Suliasi Vunivalu for Melbourne’s tries in 2017.
"I wasn’t consistent last year," Addo-Carr admitted.
"I played some good games, some pretty ordinary games. I’ve come here, done a pre-season and am doing things well.”
A chat with Storm coach Craig Bellamy set the tone for a big 2017, Addo-Carr says.
"Me and Craig spoke to me about being consistent during pre-season, that’s all I was really looking for – consistency in my game – and being fit and doing my job for the boys and the team.
"It’s the hardest pre-season I’ve done. You get a lot of confidence out of the pre-season you do down here. That shows in my performance.”
There’s another reason why the athletic winger is finding form too: Curtis Scott, a teammate of Addo-Carr’s in the Cronulla Sharks’ NYC team in 2015. The duo has combined effectively this year, scoring 18 tries between them.
"Me and Curtis have a bit of history – we played in the Sharks together – which might be why Craig has chucked us on the same edge,"Addo-Carr says.
"Craig has faith in us, and we’re doing a pretty good job at the moment."
With Melbourne leading the NRL ladder on 32 points, the winger has every incentive to keep performing each week.
"We want to the end of the year strong. We’ve got five more rounds to go and want to win that minor premiership. It’s a big challenge for us."
