'Privilege to be back in Blues jersey': The sacrifices behind Foxx's Origin recall

Josh Addo-Carr has vowed never to lose his NSW jersey again after detailing the sacrifices he made to get back into the side for Wednesday night’s Origin series opener at Adelaide Oval.

Addo-Carr played 12 consecutive Origins before being dumped for last year’s series and the Bulldogs winger all but forced Blues coach Brad Fittler to recall him by carrying his form for the Kangaroos at last year’s World Cup into this season.

Rather than stew over his axing for Daniel Tupou, Addo-Carr worked harder and he revealed that he had made changes to his life, including giving up alcohol, to enable him to prepare and play to his best each week.

“I just felt like I needed to do better and I took it on the chin,” Addo-Carr told NRL.com. “It just wasn't my time last year and sometimes when you have a setback the way you respond takes you to another level.

“I’ve basically left no stone unturned in terms of preparation and I just try to better myself every day.

“That's what I focused on, and I'm thankful that my teammates and the coaching staff, and everyone involved, have the trust in me to do the job for this jersey.

“It’s a privilege to put this jersey on again and I definitely won’t take it for granted.”

After returning from the World Cup, where he scored a tournament high 12 tries in five matches and was a finalist for the IRL Golden Boot award, Addo-Carr decided to give up alcohol to help him better prepare for this season.

Addo-Carr has not had a drink this season and is now on the cusp of becoming NSW’s greatest Origin try scorer if he can extend his tally of 10 tries to 12 during the series.

“I just chose to be off the drink, I just chose to sacrifice something little like that to better myself.” Addo-Carr said.

“To be honest, I was just over drinking and just over feeling like shit; it’s as simple as that.

“With drinking I don't think anything comes good of it so I just decided to stay off the drink and it has helped with my footy this year

“When you drink, you can feel run down and it takes you a couple of days to recover, so I don't want to do that. I want to come in fresh every day and that’s what I’ve done.”

The 27-year-old credits the booze ban for helping him to make an earlier than expected return from ankle surgery in time to convince Fittler he would be fit for Origin I.

He also spent six weeks icing his ankle around the clock before making a comeback for Canterbury the day before Fittler finalised his team.

After overlooking him last year, Fittler phoned Addo-Carr and asked: “Are you ready?”

Addo-Carr replied: “Yeh bro, I'm ready’.

“I was rapt because I love pulling on this jersey and representing my family,” he said. “I love being part of this team with a good bunch of boys and I have got a good connection with pretty much everyone in the side.

“Most of these boys are pretty close and I think that’s a big part of what Freddy has done.”

Kangaroos coach Mal Meninga installed a similar sense of camaraderie within the Australian team during their seven-week campaign in England and Addo-Carr said the World Cup had reinforced his resolve to play for the Blues again.

“I just enjoyed every moment of the World Cup. I was with a good bunch of boys, and we had so much fun over there,” he said.

“Mal and everyone that was involved in that team just made it so much fun for us and I think it showed out on the field how close we were, and that's why we played so good because we were so connected and loved being around each other.

“We trained hard, we worked hard, and we got the result at the back end of it. I learned just to enjoy every moment because this sort of stuff doesn't come around every day.”