Melbourne flyer Josh Addo-Carr says scoring the opening try in the Storm’s NRL semi-final romp against Parramatta had lifted a weight from his shoulders.
Late in their qualifying final, Addo-Carr lost the ball while hitting it up near the tryline, with Canberra scooping it up for the match-winner to put the minor premiers on a much-tougher path to the grand final.
While his Melbourne teammates never blamed him for the loss, Addo-Carr wanted to make it up to them and did so with two tries in Saturday night’s 32-0 win over the Eels to set up a final-four showdown with the Sydney Roosters.
The winger burnt the defence with a 70m individual effort, turning his opposite Blake Ferguson inside out with raw pace before scrambling out of a Waqa Blake tackle to dive over.
Addo-Carr celebrated with a huge roar as he slammed the ball down, saying later that the sixth-minute try was a giant relief.
“A great weight has been lifted off my shoulders,” he said.
“It was a tough pill to swallow last week.
“It could have happened to anyone but, unfortunately, it happened to me and it was the first time that something like that has happened.
“It was a little hiccup but the boys forgave me so it was good to move on and get the win.”
While the Eels match pitted the two best wing combinations in the competition, Addo-Carr said he’d have his hands full stopping the Roosters in their grand-final rematch.
He said he was relieved to be opposing Joseph Manu and Brett Morris on his side of the park rather than Latrell Mitchell and Daniel Tupou.
“Latrell is on the left hand side, thankfully – he runs fast and he weighs about 200kg,” Addo-Carr laughed.
“He’s a great player and he’s having a great year.”
The Roosters ran riot in the first half of last year’s grand final, leading 18-0 by halftime.
Addo-Carr said his team needed to produce the same fast start as they did against Parramatta.
“You have to start well against the Roosters,” he said.
“We definitely have to play a bit better than we did against the Eels.
“The Roosters started well against the Rabbitohs and ended up smashing them.”
Sydney-born Addo-Carr has never played on the SCG but says he will put the call out to his friends and family for their support.
