Josh Addo-Carr stands down from NRL finals game after absence from Bulldogs awards night

Josh Addo-Carr was told to stay home as the Bulldogs held their annual awards night on Monday, and has now made himself unavailable for Canterbury's finals clash with Manly on Sunday. The winger allegedly returned a positive roadside test to cocaine over the weekend, which has rocked the Bulldogs just days out from their NRL elimination final and thrown the club into turmoil at the worst possible time.

Addo-Carr and his manager met with Bulldogs football boss Phil Gould on Monday evening, after details of his roadside test came to light. Speaking to reporters on Tuesday morning, Gould revealed that Addo-Carr told him he did not know why he had tested positive, and vehemently denied taking any drugs to lead to the result.

But Gould revealed that Addo-Carr has stood himself down for the Manly game so he isn't a distraction. Addo-Carr was pulled over on Friday night while driving in the Sydney suburb of Wentworth Point and allegedly returned a positive test. He was then tested a second time, with the sample sent away for further analysis.

Gould said Addo-Carr approached the club on Saturday morning to inform them of the matter, but said the winger had told him the test was inconclusive and there was no issue. It was only when the club received phone calls about the matter on Monday they discovered the State of Origin and Kangaroos Test star had allegedly returned a positive sample.

Gould said he accepted Addo-Carr did not intentionally mislead the club, but indicated on Tuesday that it was possible Addo-Carr would be playing this weekend if he had been clearer in the initial details on Saturday morning. "Under the CBA (collective bargaining agreement) rules, we have no reason to stand him down, nor has the league until that last sample comes back positive," Gould said.

"So with that in keeping, there would be no reason for us to stand him down and go through the normal process. Josh has at all times defended his innocence, and said he didn't take this and didn't do it.

"Did he lie to us? I'm convinced in Josh's mind that he didn't think we'd ever hear about this. So he probably didn't tell me the whole truth of the first positive or what it read. He put that down to being inconclusive. So he hasn't handled that part well. But do I think he deliberately lied to mislead me? No. That's Josh."

Phil Gould lifts the lid on Josh Addo-Carr situation

The 29-year-old was advised not to attend the club's awards night on Monday as the drama played out. He has not been charged, pending further analysis of his sample.

The Bulldogs anticipate it could take up to 10 weeks for the secondary sample to be returned. Gould suggested that if it came back positive, Addo-Carr's future at the club would fall under the spotlight.

"That's something we will deal with there," Gould added. "There are sanctions to that and precedence for that. If it came back positive, Josh would have to explain how it got in his system. Because he is adamant, and I mean vehemently adamant, that he has not taken the drugs.

"He came in and reported it to us the next morning, but the way it was reported to us, he was very dismissive of it. That there was no drama, he hadn't tested positive to anything, they had allowed him to drive home.

"What Josh thought was because he went and did the second test and they allowed him to go, he thought it was negative. I'm not saying Josh was deliberately misrepresenting, that was his interpretation of events. The police have a different interpretation."

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Addo-Carr missed Canterbury's loss to North Queensland last weekend due to an ankle injury, and had spent Friday night watching the Roosters and Rabbitohs match. A spokesperson for the NRL has confirmed the league is aware of the matter and is "liaising with the club".

Viliame Kikau wins Bulldogs' player of the year

On Monday night, the Bulldogs did their best to ignore the distraction as they celebrated their achievements in making the finals for the first time in eight years. Viliame Kikau won the George Peponis Medal as the club's player of the year, while Stephen Crichton was judged the members' player of the year.

Crichton also won club person of the year, while Jakob Kiraz won players' player and Toby Sexton got the coach's award from Cameron Ciraldo. The players and their partners dazzled on the red carpet, with Channel 9 host Danika Mason attending alongside boyfriend Liam Knight.