Brydens Lawyers NSW Blues winger Josh Addo-Carr has relived the most harrowing time of his life, which saw him jailed for common assault, as part of a video campaign to educate rising stars of the game to make better choices in life.
Addo-Carr talks candidly in the video titled 'The Opportunity – Good v Bad choices' which shows the differences between his own life and the success he has achieved at Melbourne Storm and the NSW Blues, compared to a player whose Rugby League career was cut short by a life of crime.
The 23-year-old flyer has previously spoken of the time he was jailed as a teenager for breaching his bail conditions relating to a common assault charge and said he realised he needed to change his life around after standing before the judge at Glebe Local Court.
"Some stuff happened, I got into trouble with the police at one stage, I was going through the court systems, I was on curfew, I was reporting (to police) three times a week," Addo-Carr said.
"I breached my bail a couple of times and got locked up about two or three times and I remember the whole process of getting out, and stripping naked, bending over and them checking if they had any stuff on you and that, and I just thought, 'What the hell is this?'
"I was going to see the judge and he told me I was on a two-year good behaviour bond. When all that happened that's when it was going through my head, 'I'm not about this life. This is not me, I want to make something of my life, I don't want to waste it.'
"That's when everything turned and I said, 'I'm going to make it.' My cousins always used to drink and party and it's just making those choices not to drink, it's about making those sacrifices."
Addo-Carr is now considered one of the star wingers in the NRL after winning a premiership with the Storm in 2017, and helping the NSW Blues this season win the State of Origin shield for the first time since 2014.
