Josh Addo-Carr sends message to Brad Fittler after NSW snub

Josh Addo-Carr vowed to prove Brad Fittler wrong this week following his State of Origin snub, and the Canterbury star sent a strong message with a double against Penrith.

After being selected by Freddy for the last 12 Origin games on the bounce, Addo-Carr was surprisingly left out of the NSW squad for Game I next week, with the winger struggling for form since joining the Dogs.

Addo-Carr acknowledged the snub was a major blow prior to Friday night’s clash, but insisted he had not given up hopes of representing New South Wales again in the future. 

Josh Addo-Carr sent a message to Blues coach Brad Fittler after scoring twice against Penrith

The winger celebrated wildly after scoring having been dumped out of the Blues Origin squad

And he backed up his words at BlueBet Stadium on Friday, latching onto a cute grubber kick by Matt Burton to haul Canterbury back into the game against the reigning premiers.

After touching the ball down, an animated Addo-Carr screamed down the barrel of the camera lens in a clear message to Freddy.

Penrith went into half time with a comfortable 16-point lead but Addo-Carr and Burton linked up again, with the winger pouncing on his cross-field kick before charging half the length of the pitch to score. 

With Nathan Cleary, Jarome Luai, Stephen Crichton, Brian To’o, Liam Martin and Isaah Yeo forming a six-man Penrith contingent in Fittler’s NSW squad, the home game with the bottom-placed Bulldogs on Friday night loomed as a potential banana skin.

This time last year Ivan Cleary’s men were upset by Wests Tigers but even without the nucleus of their team, Viliame Kikau ensured the majority of the 16,906 fans left BlueBet Stadium happy.

The Fijian back-rower has agreed to join Canterbury next year and showed his future teammates exactly what they are currently missing.

When he wasn’t spoiling the Bulldogs’ attack with his bone-rattling defence, he was cleaning up loose balls in the in-goal, and he even found time to barge past three defenders to score a first-half try.

The victory moves Penrith four points clear at the top of the NRL ladder.

There were some glimpses of hope for Canterbury, who launched a second-half comeback and at one point threatened to claim just their third win of the season.

In the week he was dropped by Fittler for the first time since he debuted for the Blues in 2018, Josh Addo-Carr grabbed a brace, combining with five-eighth Matt Burton on both occasions.

Burton scored a try of his own against his former club and his kicking game was particularly troubling for the Panthers’ back three.

Penrith began in rapid fashion with Chris Smith and Dylan Edwards putting them out to a 12-0 lead with 15 minutes played, with Taylan May and Kikau strengthening their lead to 22-6 by halftime.

A try to interchange forward Jaeman Salmon and a penalty from debutant Kurt Falls got Penrith back in control with Canterbury unable to respond.