NRL bad boy Todd Carney takes on shock new rugby league role

Todd Carney, who was sacked by two clubs in his NRL career, has made a surprise return to the top tier of rugby league.

Former bad boy Todd Carney is making a surprise return to the NRL with the Gold Coast Titans.

The 38-year-old was involved in a number of off-field incidents during a checkered playing career, including repeated drink driving infringements and an infamous bathroom incident.

Sacked by both the Raiders and Sharks during his playing days, he also represented Australia and the NSW Blues and won the 2010 Dally M player of the year while with the Roosters.

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Alcohol was a key factor in the playmaker’s troubles and he kicked booze for good almost two years ago, following a 30-day stint in rehab.

Living on the Gold Coast hinterland with his partner, former Married At First Sight star Susie Bradley and two kids, Carney is in a good place and has joined the Titans as a junior pathways coach.

In a wide-ranging interview with The Courier Mail, Carney spoke about the day he walked into a rehabilitation centre in February last year and began turning his life around.

Read the exclusive interview with Todd Carney on The Courier Mail here

Todd Carney in the NRL and coaching. Photos: Getty Images/News Corp

“There’s obviously been a few things throughout my career,” he said.

“I self-sabotaged and that affected my relationship with my partner, which caused us to split for a little bit.

“For the first time ever I decided to get help and put myself into rehab for 30 days. I haven’t looked back since.

“It grows mental strength and resilience. Walking into rehab was a challenge in itself.

“You swallow your pride and step into a place where you know you need to change.”

After growing up in Goulburn in NSW, Carney was thrust into the NRL spotlight as a prodigious teenage talent.

While his return to the NRL scene has come as a surprise, Carney says he’s now living “on the right path” and is thrilled by the opportunity to work at the Gold Coast club.

“So much has changed,” he said.

“The opportunity to work with the Titans is massive. It’s another step in the right direction.”

Carney is enjoying his shift into coaching. Picture: DC Sports Photography

He says he doesn’t have any ambitions to climb the NRL coaching ranks, content with trying to help youngsters learn what it takes to reach the top in the sport he still loves.

Carney also isn’t bothered by what others think of him and his past reputation.

“Peoples’ opinions of me don’t bother me,” Carney said.

“It’s not about changing opinions. It’s about being the best person possible.”

Following his stint in rehab, Carney’s first opportunity came in working with renowned league breeding ground Keebra Park High School in Southport.

Carney won the 2010 Dally M Medal. (AAP Image/Tracey Nearmy)

Last year, seven months after his time in rehab, Carney spoke on The Bye Round podcast with former Bulldogs cult hero Wade Graham about the moment he hit rock bottom and the snap decision to get professional help for his issues with alcohol.

Carney said in the interview — looking back at the person he used to be — he can’t believe Bradley stayed with him for as long as she did.

The former Married At First Sight contestant confirmed in May last year she and Carney were back together, one year after it was confirmed they had separated.

The on-and-off couple have been in a relationship since 2019, with the pair getting engaged in December 2020 before welcoming their first child, a son, in March, 2021.

Bradley is also mum to a five-year-old daughter named Baby from a previous relationship.

Susie Bradley and Todd Carney on Instagram.

Bradley shared she was heartbroken after their split in 2022.

Carney opened up on the deeply personal matter, confirming Bradley walked out on him because of his ongoing problems.

“I’d drink on weekends and then I’d wake up Sunday and I’d be like, ‘I’m not going to do it again’. I’m feeling s**t,” he said.

“That happened more often than not and then I said to myself it’s time to start considering — and me and Susie were starting to talk about getting back together and things like that — and it just wasn’t happening because I was still drinking and she couldn’t be around it.”

He went on to say: “She started to question it. Not dealing with it (his behaviour) and I had my little boy and we split up for seven months and then that was a big kick in the guts.”

He said he described himself as a “50-50” dad, who was only a father a few days of the week.

The couple reunited after a seven-month split. Picture: Celeste Humphrey

He said even when his son was with him, he would feel like “s**t” because of alcohol consumed on the days when their child didn’t stay with him.

Looking back on his playing days, he says it is easy to see the connection between him winning the Dally M medal in 2010 and the 2010 season being the one time he abstained from alcohol for a full season.

“Now that I don’t drink, I look back on it and I’m pissed off at myself and how I handled it,” he said.

“Because I look back now and I go, well why didn’t the penny drop and go, ‘That’s it, you’ve got the rest of your life to have a beer’.

“But I didn’t see it that way. Now it pisses me off a little bit.

“I still talk about the ‘bubbler’ and those sorts of things, but I don’t laugh too much about it.

“Now looking back at it, it’s stupid. That’s all it was. It eats at me now that I don’t drink, the s**t that I let go of.”

Originally published as NRL bad boy Todd Carney takes on shock new rugby league role