Josh Addo-Carr wants return to Sydney with three NRL clubs in the hunt
Paul Crawley, The Daily Telegraph
January 17, 2020 7:41am
Josh Addo-Carr’s hopes of getting out of Melbourne this year are being hampered by the Storm’s reluctance release the star winger unless a rival club can offer up a similar quality player in return.
The Daily Telegraph understands the three clubs in the race for Addo-Carr are the Sydney Roosters, Canterbury and
St George Illawarra.
The Storm have already agreed to release Addo-Carr for next year but behind the scenes a game is still being played out to get him to Sydney for the 2020 season.
Addo-Carr is going through a management dispute which is only making it more difficult for rival clubs to enter into any negotiations.
But the other issue is said to be the Storm’s so-called unreasonable demands if a player swap was to occur.
While the Storm are selling it as if they are in a position of power, the fact of the matter is that it is Addo-Carr who wants out on compassionate grounds.
But unless Melbourne lower the bar it is unlikely a trade will be done for this year.
The Storm are in a difficult position given they have already lost Will Chambers and Curtis Scott which has left them extremely skinny in the outside backs while both Addo-Carr and Suliasi Vunivalu will be on the move next year, unless of course Addo-Carr leaves early.
The Roosters are considered the favourites to get the star Test winger if a deal can be done.
Meanwhile,
Adam Doueihi’s career at South Sydney remains in limbo following Latrell Mitchell’s arrival.
Wayne Bennett had another chat with Doueihi on Thursday and assured the 21-year-old he would not be pushed out of the club if he didn’t want to leave.
The trouble is if Doueihi stays his best hope of cracking an NRL spot will be as a utility off the bench.
While Wests Tigers have shown interest in signing Doueihi there is a push for the Rabbitohs to sweeten the deal by at least picking up some of his $500,000 salary for 2020.
At this point the Rabbitohs have no intention of paying any money to release Doueihi although that could change
if Jai Arrow becomes available for this year.
Arrow’s situation at the Gold Coast hasn’t changed with the Titans still not budging on an early release, although that could also change if Gold Coast can find a suitable replacement.
The Daily Telegraph reported on Wednesday that star Cronulla prop Andrew Fifita had been tossed up as a possible replacement for Arrow.
Although both the Sharks and Titans have denied any knowledge of the Fifita speculation, rival clubs are aware that Cronulla has its own salary cap concerns.
And it would not surprise to see further Sharks players linked with rival clubs in the countdown to the season.
https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/s...t/news-story/8b12a631f48640cf5124875b2ea09cb1
