Gus Gould reveals the latest news surrounding Josh Addo-Carr: NRL Presser | NRL on Nine

right just start off quickly with a um quicker statement obviously this is not the way we wanted to start this special week for the club our first time in the finals since 2016 and their Club performing so well this year um but um we have to address the Josh ad car thing today I believe our players have open media at 11:45 so I thought it was best that I come and address the media on the Josh out car matter so that our players don't have to answer questions on that issue um I'll be open to questions straight away what I can say right off the top is that Josh vly defends himself here and his innocence in this matter that as far as he's concerned he's done nothing wrong that he's taken no drugs and he can't understand why he tested positive once at the scene of this roadside test on Friday night however putting the club first and the team first Jos has made the decision to stand down from this week's game make himself available so the team can get on with its preparation and the media can get on with promoting the game um I think that's a great thing for Josh to do on behalf of the club and the team but I want to emphasize that Josh um believes he's completely innocent he's been quite concerned about what's happened in the last 24 hours and can't understand how he's tested positive to this initial roadside test that he had uh there there were a number of events that went across the weekend Josh came and reported to this to us straight away um on the Saturday morning after he'd been tested Friday night and as far as he was concerned at the time that would be the end of the matter I'm convinced that when Josh left the scene of the roadside test on Friday night that he was convinced that would be the end of it and that's probably the way he represented it to us um it's probably been said that Josh in some way has lied to us who misled us um I guess there are degrees of truth um and Josh in his own way felt that this matter wouldn't be raised again and when he left the scene on Friday night that that would be end of the matter and that was the way he left the police at that occasion um so I don't think he's deliberately misled me or lied to me probably didn't give me the whole version of what had happened there on the night which I'm now have uh at my disposal and the club will support Jos through this difficult time under the r PA and CBA rules we have no reason to stand Josh down from the game this weekend until the results of that last test is known there is obviously a backlog in these tests this can take anything up to 8 or 10 weeks which will be well after the end of the season um so we're not going to know and I guess that'll be the truth of the matter is what comes back with that test which is a second test that was taken at the scene uh on the Friday night there's a whole lot of conjecture and speculation around how this testing process takes I believe that testing process has changed a little bit so far as the police are concerned in recent times uh which was a little bit confusing to us but it's been explained to us now and we know how it works uh so at this point in time we're looking after Josh and his family um we accept Josh's belief in his innocence and will'll support him through that process Josh has also engaged lawyers uh in his own personal defense um but that's a matter for him to report on later but so far as the short term is concerned he won't be considered for selection this week because he stood himself down in the best interest of the club so the boys can get on with their preparation did Josh um did the police officer tell Josh that he tested positive yeah so that's he had the initial roadside test which I think is a I don't know how they do that one but um which showed an indication for cocaine Josh wanted to see it he didn't think it was a very very clear sort of reading that was his interpretation of it so he said you're under arrest for the purpose of a secondary test now normally and this is where it got confusing for us normally that would be going back to a police station or to a mobile unit somewhere around where you'd go back and do a secondary test and then they they test to see if that's a positive to be sent off for analysis it's changed a little bit now they're able to do that test on the scene in the back of the police car so in the short term he was under arrest for the purpose of a secondary test he was placed into the back of of the police vehicle where they sat there for 20 minutes as he does this second test and then I asked him what was the result of that test he said there was no result they don't give you a positive or negative at that time what they did was would seal it in a bag and said that's yours he said yes he said if you haven't taken drugs you've got nothing to worry about but Gus he said the police officer said you tested positive and he's telling you that he tested negative he thought yeah that's right that's that's the one part there that I said to him in his mind he felt it was inconclusive that was the word that he used and then on the second one the BL said to him if you haven't done anything wrong you've got nothing to worry about he said he got out of the car he went back to his car there was still rubbish on top of his roof from the initial test he said boss what do I do with this he said just throw it in the bin best the luck on your way got in the car and drove what made his story very believable in the initial part was he he never went to a police station B he never got a citation or any notification of a positive test and C he got in his car and driver away which I didn't think you're allowed to do no one did but that's how the last few minutes of that played out so when he put all that into perspective him telling me that the first test was inconclusive the second one was negative um was believable but that's in Josh's mind how it played out were police still at the scene when he decided to get in the car and drive home he says yes 100% I've gred him on that and the police I've ask him that 100 times you're good to go you can drive good to go you can drive you're good to go he had rubbish on the roof of his car from the initial test he said boss what do I do with this he said throw it in the bin he threw it in the bin thanks boss good luck off your go so that makes it think that that's why he thought look he left the scene thinking we won't hear about this again what what for you 8 years you've been hanging out for this and you here we are fullon news conference talking about drugs and support where you at on this I mean how do you feel well it's a distraction for the media it's not a distraction for us you know we deal with this sort of thing all the time we get Thunderbolts we get injuries we get personal problems we have all sorts of things that a lot of time media don't even find out about our blacks are professionals I'll get on and prepare for this week I think Josh has done the naval Thing by the team he's put the team first and the club first um so that he's not a distraction this week which it would obviously be we we're aware of that it would obviously be a distraction and he wants him to get on and play well this weekend if he hadn't stood down would you have stood him down uh well that's the question I don't have to answer now has Josh has Josh spoken to the team no and how Josh Josh is uh upset he's very very upset he's actually uh yeah he is very upset it's kind of very very frustrating for him because he believes in his own heart that he's done nothing wrong he firmly denies firmly denies taking drugs firmly denies taking drugs and in fact last week for that to be in his system on Friday night he'd have had that some time during last week taken Caine which stays in your system for 48 72 hours well three of those days he was here training or he was doing community work who was doing something else so we're at a bit of loss too but until that sample comes out none of us are going to know so say so you guys win let's have you win all right we're here just standing here next week will he play I'll answer that next week how did you feel about the way he his interpretation of what happened the way that was passed on to you the first time we've had that conversation a hundred times 100 times I think in his thought when he left the scene on Friday night that this would a rear its head again that he wouldn't have to worry about it and it was kind of like I haven't done anything wrong I haven't taken the drugs the policeman said if you haven't done anything wrong this will be fine and you'll be sweet he just didn't think that this would ever raise its head again and that's how he interpreted it go with false positives I think Josh Reynolds might have been through a similar situation that's why they have secondary tests because the first test you know that's up for the police to decide but the bottom line is the police are doing their job they're protecting the community and they're doing what they have to do Josh has been pulled over he submitted for the test he did the test he was he did everything they wanted he didn't get a citation he wasn't booked he wasn't taken to a police station he was allowed to get in his car and drive home for me under the old system that sounds like all right what he's telling me is right but it was never ever said to him that these tests were negative the ref the the um not the referee the uh bker the bunker the the policeman did say to him that you have a positive here for a positive indication of cocaine which is they don't convict on that one they have to go and get the other one so until we get that sample back we really don't know but that'll be the but Josh is saying to me I haven't taken the drugs if if Josh had told you that there had been initial positive sample and essentially told you the full version of events how would circumstances be different today would he still be playing this weekend uh that's an interesting question um under the CBA rules we have no reason to stand him down nor has the league in the Integrity unit who I've spoken to at length have any reason to stand him down until that last sample comes back positive so with that in keeping um there would have been no reason for us to stand him down and go through the normal process I think with the braen Trindle won there was alcohol as well as drugs involved and he self-reported and he self uh he pleaded guilty and they got on with that that way he went and did some rehab Josh has at all times defended his innocence and he said I didn't take this I didn't do it which is why in his own mind he was convinced when they let him go from the scene that that was the last we would hear from it he could be stood down for misleading the club you're confident that he hasn't done that well that's that's the other part did he lie to us well 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 kind of put that down to being inconclusive that's why they gave me a second test so in that he hasn't handled that part of it very well do I think he was deliberately lying to me to mislead me no that's Josh yeah can I clarify when you say he wanted to see the first test was he allowed to then see it uh he he said he got a faint glimpse of it but that's you know that's for Josh to work out with the police later on um I don't even know if he's entitled to see it what the policeman said was you've shown an indication and that's all just an initial test it's an indication to go and get another test they put him under arrest put him in the car the other test sent that sample away what I understand that wasn't tested at the site gets tested somewhere else so it's a different sort of system to what I knew or what they understood the protocols to be plus if he'd had a positive reading do they let you get in the car and drive away well they did so all that made it very believable that Josh believed that he was okay and wouldn't hear about this again obviously somehow it found a way into the media yesterday the rumor mill started yesterday which is why we put out what we did because believing what we believed we wanted to stop the rumor mill um it wasn't until later in the afternoon when the police put out their stuff that it made the thing more serious so we'll never get to the bottom of this until we get the results of that second test yeah and you might be waiting months I might be alive when it comes in if that second test comes back positive as Josh's last SC the club well that's something we'll deal with there um there are sanctions for that and there is history and precedent about that um then Josh would have to explain if it comes back positive Josh will have to explain to us how it got in his system because he's arant at the moment and I mean vly aramant that he hasn't taken the drugs is right he got his own doctor so Josh wanted to submit himself a blood test yesterday and rang our club doctor Club doctor said you need a urine test not a drug test he went and had that done yes and I believe those results will be available this afternoon how much weight that carries I don't know because if in fact he had this substance in his system before the weekend it may well have been out of his system anyway it's not going to carry any weight legally for him but it was more him saying look I haven't done this I'm prepared to undergo any test all right and he understands it probably people will be skeptical about that because there's a bit of a delay in what we're doing but us internally thinking about it too when did he take this what what part of the week did he take this if he took it given that he was here most of the time he was still training with the side up until he trained with the side he he limped off the field in the last 10 minutes of the Thursday night session so he was playing up until Thursday night for the Saturday game and he didn't rule himself out at that stage Jonathan SE went on on the wing for the rest of the session and it wasn't until he limped in here on Friday morning and he came into camp with the team as a lot of the injured and suspended players did for that night they went to the football with the coach to watch The Roosters in South Sydney play over at acore Stadium um you know Jos has gone out got in his car and been pulled up just down the road and that's where all this started but I'm convinced and I've spoken to him a 100 times since Saturday that Josh in his own mind thought that was the end of it that when he left the scene that was it if he was in Camp with the team why did he leave and did the club anyone know that he'd left that night no I think he said he went down the road to get a phone charger at one of the uy Mars or something like that so sounded pretty innocent to me you got a footy game to play and win um that's why we're doing this today yeah you you think that you can avoid the distraction that that is brought the can perform well our players are professional so are the coaches they'll just get on with I'll address the Players shortly and their week starts today so they've had a couple of days week off they've done a great job to get to the semi-finals this year we want to put up a good showing for our first time in the finals we got a big crowd coming fans and supporters there'll be a lot disappointed that Josh is not playing he's a very very popular player in our club and with our fan base but um you know in talking to Josh this morning he realized it was probably the right thing to do right at the moment on behalf of the team and the club and I thank him for that and um I hope he's proven innocent I hope I hope everything he's telling me is 100% right on the wing I don't know that's the coach who does it I don't pick the teams unlike what some people say just uh just to confirm was the first time that you'd actually heard about the incident was that from Josh himself Saturday morning so he came downstairs so um it was late Friday night when this happened he came downstairs the next morning and spoke to our welfare officer Luke Goodwin and our manager Steve leety they rang me straight away um and I it was kind of like was pretty dismissive I said well what's the price have you been booked he said no I said you go to the police station he said no I said you been charged he said no I said was it positive he said no and I said well did you drive the car away he said yeah I said what are you woring about nothing I just wanted to let you know that's how it was and that's why by Monday I'd forgotten about it until Josh rang me and said he was starting to get some calls about rumors yesterday that sort of escalated yesterday afternoon probably more after my tweet than anything but CU some people probably a little bit skeptical that maybe was not forced any it but the fact that the club maybe put pressure on him just to stand down what did he say before you got the chance we talked we talked about the scenarios of this of the week right there's the world the way we want it and the world the way it is it's as simple as that I said this is the way the world will work if you're playing and training this week right you your family the club The Players everyone this is what the week will look like you could describe to me what the week would look like leading into this game if Josh was playing so Josh has done the naval thing and stood down this week but at all times confirming that he's completely innocent of any drug taking on this occasion and I hope that proves to be right was K involved in those discussion I had meetings with Cam Caldo um Aaron won Adam duy uh Steve leety today we've been talking pretty much on the phone all night and all today we had the club presentation last night obviously he knew there'd be media there and I thought Josh we didn't expose him to that we asked him to stay away which he was disappointed in and the other players were too and they'll be disappointed when I tell him today that uh that he's going to stand down but they'll understand the reasons for it because that's pretty much what this team has been built on this year is team first and Club first and Josh has done the right thing um but he would have dearly loved to have played and he still feels he should be playing in this game and that this is not of he's doing and he's a key player Josh very important to our team very important to our club absolutely just to confirm so Josh was in the meetings with yourself withi and no no I met with Josh and Mario tark's manager uh last night at 5:00 um extensively been then again in this morning after I met with Aaron and Cameron and that and I came back and said well there'll be two scenarios here um we either play him or Josh stands down that'll be the two scenarios that we decided on and Josh 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