Eels star eyes 200 NRL tries, Alex Johnston’s record
Josh Addo-Carr is standing outside a gas station about five meters away, filling up his big black car with ridiculously expensive diesel fuel.
It’s 7.30pm on Sunday, less than two hours after Parramatta’s hard-fought 30-20 win over St George Illawarra; The Dragons’ half-time was sealed by a 70-metre Addo-Carr special after burning Daniel Atkinson outside.
Addo-Carr’s father and younger sister were also there to watch the 30-year-old create excitement in the second game of the season for the Eels.
Three days later at a sponsor event in Sydney, he’s unveiling, you guessed it, his latest car: a customized JAC ute he designed himself.
“That gas cost me $210, man,” Addo-Carr says. “It’s pretty wild right now. I was driving past a servo where I grew up and I remember gas used to be 99 cents.”
Using an obvious analogy, how full is his tank right now?
“I think it’s under a full tank,” he says.
When told that the question was about football, the speedster burst into laughter.
“I’m sorry, man. I think I’ve got four or five years left,” he says. “My body feels great right now. I’m doing everything I can to play consistent football. The sky’s the limit.”
Addo-Carr will enter the ‘Battle of the West’ against Penrith at CommBank Stadium on Saturday as one of the top 10 scorers in Australian rugby league history, and will surpass the career tallies of Matt Sing and Hazem El Masri on Sunday.
‘Foxx’ has now scored 160 tries in 203 matches across his decade in the premier class, with his most prolific seasons coming in 2017 and 2021, his first and last years in Melbourne, with 23 passes each.
Addo-Carr writes her goals into the notes app on her phone. He scored a full-field try in his 200th NRL game against the Warriors last season but now has his sights set on a new milestone: 200 career tries.
And while it remains an outside chance, he doesn’t rule out a crack in Alex Johnston’s record.
“I love scoring tries and I’m not going to hide from that. That’s what I get paid for,” says Addo-Carr. “If so [breaking Johnston’s record] If it comes, I will be happy and I know my family will be happy too. It would put a smile on their faces.
“I still have a lot of years left in me and hopefully I can get over 200. It blows my mind to be around some of the best players to ever play the game. [on that list].”
Addo-Carr is 195 days younger than Johnston and trails him by 54 tries. He will likely need five standout seasons and a weak patch from Johnston in South Sydney or potentially Papua New Guinea from 2028 to have any hope of climbing to the top.
At least the speed is still there. GPS data from Sunday’s match revealed that Addo-Carr reached approximately 90 percent of his maximum speed during this escape attempt.
It’s times like these that Addo-Carr feels lucky to be playing football, having made it the hard way after spending the first few years of his life in Doonside, a suburb adjacent to Mount Druitt, sandwiched between Penrith and Parramatta.
After starting his league journey at Doonside Roos as a three-year-old, Addo-Carr moved on to Earlwood Saints and ended up at Matraville Sports High because it was the only place that would accept him.
After underage spells at the Rabbitohs, Brisbane, Cronulla and then first grade at the Wests Tigers in 2016, Addo-Carr went on to carve out a stellar career at Melbourne and Canterbury before Jason Ryles threw him a lifeline at Parramatta.
“It’s pretty crazy,” he says. “Who would have thought? A young Aboriginal man who grew up on the housing commission, didn’t have a good childhood and had a single mother. I was probably never planned to go to first grade, I just dug deep – there was so much sacrifice and sacrifice.”
“That’s what you want to do when you’re a young man, especially as a freshman.
“It’s always special to have your family there and come and watch you. My dad is getting older and it’s about trying to make as many memories as possible. When I first started he wasn’t coming to a lot of games, but now he’s coming to kick on and enjoy life a little bit.”
Whether Addo-Carr gets past Johnston or not, he understands the importance of having two Indigenous footballers so visible.
“If we’re inspiring one Aboriginal child or one TI out there [Torres Straight Islander] boy, then we do our job,” says Addo-Carr. “Reach for the stars because that’s what we did.”
The Eels are two from two with Addo-Carr this year after their season opener against Melbourne ended in a 52-4 defeat. He was nursing a broken thumb.
Addo-Carr and his mates in the Eels backline will need something special if Parramatta are to beat the Panthers, especially after the premiership favorites thrashed the Roosters 40-4 last week.
“They have definitely been one of the reference points for the last seven or eight years,” says Addo-Carr. “The battle of the West is always a healthy competition. I absolutely love going head to head with these kids. They’re a team that doesn’t give you much. You’ve got to take the opportunities when they come.”
Tom Decent is chief sports writer for The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect with: X or email.
