Bulldogs star stands down, ‘misled’ club over alleged roadside test result

Phil Gould has faced the press to share new details of Bulldogs star Josh Addo-Carr’s alleged failed drug test, confirming the winger has stood himself down.

Josh Addo-Carr has stood himself down and will not play against Manly in Sunday’s elimination final.

The star winger allegedly failed a roadside drugs test in Sydney on Friday night after leaving the Bulldogs’ captain’s run at Accor Stadium.

The footballer has not been charged with any offence due to further analysis being required on the result. The test allegedly returned a positive indication for cocaine. Addo-Carr “firmly” denies taking drugs.

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Bulldogs football boss Phil Gould went public in his support of Addo-Carr on Monday night, but had shifted his stance when facing the press on Tuesday morning.

Gould and Bulldogs officials discussed Addo-Carr’s incident during a meeting on Tuesday morning before he announced to the press pack that the 29-year-old has made himself unavailable for selection this week.

The veteran rugby league official said the club supports Addo-Carr and accepts his version of events that the footballer genuinely believed the matter would not progress beyond the roadside test.

Gould said the incident is made more difficult to understand because Addo-Carr was allowed to get back into his car and drive away after undergoing two tests.

Josh Addo-Carr and Phil Gould. Photo: Fox Sports News.

Gould said there was a “degree of truth” to suggestions Addo-Carr lied to him and the club when explaining how the tests unfolded.

The former NSW State of Origin coach said Addo-Carr told the football club an initial test returned an inconclusive result before a second test returned a negative result.

Gould told reporters on Tuesday that Addo-Carr was actually told by police on the scene he had returned a positive result, despite being allowed to drive away.

Addo-Carr was not taken to a police station.

“What I can say right off the top is that Josh vehemently defends himself,” Gould said.

“As far as he’s concerned he’s done nothing wrong. That he’s taken no drugs and he can’t understand why he’s tested positive once at the scene of this roadside test on Friday night.

“However, putting the club first and the team first, Josh has made the decision to stand down from this weekend’s game. (To) not make himself available so that the team can get on with its preparation and the media can get on with promoting the game.

“I think that’s a great thing for Josh to do for the sake of the team. But I want to emphasise that Josh believes he’s completely innocent. He’s been quite concerned by what’s happened in the last 24 hours and can’t understand how he’s tested positive for this initial roadside test.

“There were a number of events that occurred over the weekend. Josh came in and reported this to us straight away on the Saturday morning after he’d been tested on Friday night.

Josh Addo-Carr is reportedly under investigation. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

“As far as he was concerned that would be the end of the matter. I’m convinced that when Josh left the scene of the roadside test on Friday night that he was convinced that would be the end of it.”

Gould said he now believes inadvertently or otherwise that Addo-Carr did not give him the full details of the incident.

“It’s probably been said that Josh in some way that Josh lied to us or misled us. I guess there are degrees of truth and Josh in his own way felt that this matter wouldn’t be raised again when he left the scene on Friday night,” he said.

“I don’t think he’s deliberately misled me or lied to me. He probably didn’t give me the whole version of what had happened there on the night which I now have at my disposal.

“And the club will support Josh through this difficult time. Under the RLPA and CBA rules we have no reason to stand Josh down from the game this weekend until the results of that last test is known.”

Gould said it is typical for secondary test results to take between 8-10 weeks to be returned.

He went on to answer the question every reporter wanted to know.

“Did he lie to us? I’m convinced in Josh’s mind he didn’t think we’d ever hear about this,” he said.

“So he probably didn’t tell me the whole truth of the first positive or what it read. He kind of put that down to being inconclusive, ‘so that’s why they gave me a second test’. So he hasn’t handled that part of it very well. Do I think he was deliberately lying to me to mislead me? No, that’s Josh.”

The club has not made any decision on whether Addo-Carr would be available to play if their finals campaign extends beyond the first week.

The Daily Telegraph’s Phil Rothfield earlier said the incident left Gould “embarrassed”.

NSW Police released a statement regarding the incident which read: “About 10.45pm on Friday, officers attached to Auburn Police Area Command were patrolling Baywater Drive, Wentworth Point, when they stopped a Toyota hatchback for random testing.

“The driver – a 29-year-old man – was subject to roadside testing which allegedly returned a positive indication for cocaine. The sample has been sent for analysis.”

Originally published as Bulldogs star stands down, ‘misled’ club over alleged roadside test result