Josh Addo-Carr checks himself into a rehabilitation clinic

PR 101.

Public persona do bad thing and get caught
Persona claims mental health struggles and/or books into rehab to avoid having to front the media
Persona emerges from retreat/rehab a "new person" and speaks about commitment to being their best self and that this was the circuit breaker they needed
All is forgiven and forgotten and everything is back to business as usual

Pretty sure Ben Cousins had this script in his pocket most of the time. On a personal level it annoys me because it's clearly a PR tactic to avoid responsibility. On a professional level I can see that it works and it's the only way forward in these situations short of publicly lashing the person in question.

JAC will come out a "new man", he will probably do some charity work to help others with their demons. And he'll be put on a "final strike" situation and given a corporate Uber account (given he'll also have no license for 12 months he'll need it).

I'd say given this move he will see out his contract with us.

And for everyone seriously disappointed in him... seriously? Did you ever look at JAC and think "now there's a really smart thinker and good planner"? He is fast and runs into people head first for a living. These kind of dumb decisions are always going to be more common in NRL players than the general population.

"PR 101.

Public persona do bad thing and get caught
Persona claims mental health struggles and/or books into rehab to avoid having to front the media
Persona emerges from retreat/rehab a "new person" and speaks about commitment to being their best…"

Replies

Anguillidae September 14, 2026 at 3:39pm

Maybe JAC will pick up JAC when he gets his licence back?
The Captain September 14, 2026 at 4:08pm
PR 101.
1. Public persona do bad thing and get caught
2. Persona claims mental health struggles and/or books into rehab to avoid having to front the media
3. Persona emerges from retreat/rehab a "new person" and speaks about commitment to being their best self and that this was the circuit breaker they needed
4. All is forgiven and forgotten and everything is back to business as usual
Pretty sure Ben Cousins had this script in his pocket most of the time. On a personal level it annoys me because it's clearly a PR tactic to avoid responsibility. On a professional level I can see that it works and it's the only way forward in these situations short of publicly lashing the person in question.

JAC will come out a "new man", he will probably do some charity work to help others with their demons. And he'll be put on a "final strike" situation and given a corporate Uber account (given he'll also have no license for 12 months he'll need it).

I'd say given this move he will see out his contract with us.

And for everyone seriously disappointed in him... seriously? Did you ever look at JAC and think "now there's a really smart thinker and good planner"? He is fast and runs into people head first for a living. These kind of dumb decisions are always going to be more common in NRL players than the general population.
Zip zip September 14, 2026 at 4:19pm

Love the journalism... 'Josh Ado-Carr books himself into rehab'.

More like his manager dragged him kicking and screaming into rehab.

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