Josh Addo-Carr hires top lawyer as date with Canterbury board arrives

Disgraced Bulldogs winger Josh Addo-Carr has hired gun lawyer Elias Tabchouri as they prepare to go into battle to save the NRL player’s career.

According to News Corp, Addo-Carr and the high-profile Tabchouri will face the Canterbury board on Thursday afternoon as the club plans to rip up the final year of Addo-Carr’s contract.

Addo-Carr’s career is in tatters after he failed a roadside drug test on September 6.

The NRL issued him with a breach notice last month and he accepted a $682 fine from NSW Police and a three-month ban from driving.

Making matters worse for Addo-Carr, Bulldogs supremo Phil Gould staunchly defended him after the star told Gould the test was inconclusive.

Gould’s support would later diminish as more details emerged.

Addo-Carr has continued to claim he does not know how the cocaine that was detected at the test got in his system, arguing he did not take illicit drugs.

Addo-Carr also caught backlash for misleading Bulldogs officials about the incident, and has previously run afoul of club higher-ups over a brawl at last year’s Koori Knockout competition.

Meanwhile, he has been looking for opportunities at other clubs and is said to have had “talks” with rivals.

The Dragons are reportedly interested but no arrangement has been made.

Tabchouri did not want to comment about Addo-Carr ahead of the crunch meeting with the board.

“This matter has had a dramatic impact on Josh and his family,“ he has previously said.

“It has also been a distraction from a significant game for his beloved Bulldogs.

“Despite the fact that Josh maintains he has never knowingly ingested any illegal drugs, he has decided to pay the infringement and bring this matter to an end legally.”

Addo-Carr is considered long odds to be at Canterbury next year.

He decided to miss the elimination-final loss to Manly rather than spark a media circus for his team.

Canterbury’s decision to sign replacement winger Marcelo Montoya earlier this month appeared another blow to Addo-Carr’s hopes of remaining with at the club.

- with AAP