Josh has his eye on the prize

MELBOURNE Storm boom recruit Josh Addo- Carr wants to repay Craig Bellamy and finish the year off strongly, starting with a positive performance against North Queensland on Friday night.

Addo- Carr, 22, has endured the hardest pre- season of his life under Bellamy, but admits the test of physical and mental strength has laid the foundation for his breakout season.

The speedster moved to equal third in the race for the NRL top tryscorer – behind Alex Johnson ( 16) and the Storm’s own Suliasi Vunivalu ( 15) – on Sunday, scoring his 14th try in a 34- point demolition of Manly at AAMI Park.

Addo- Carr ( pictured) threatened with searching runs throughout the game, but finally broke through in the 80th minute.

“It was good to get a try at the end there, but it was good to get away with the win more importantly,” he said.

The excitement machine has played 19 games this season, averaging 140m a game from 12 carries. He only enjoyed mixed success at West Tigers last year, scoring six tries in nine games.

“I wasn’t consistent last year,” Addo- Carr said.

“I played some good games, some pretty ordinary games. I’ve come here, done a pre- season and am doing things well.

“Craig spoke to me about being consistent during preseason, that’s all I was really looking for – consistency in my game and being fit and doing my job for the … team.

“It’s the hardest pre- season I’ve done. You get a lot of confidence out of the pre- season you do down here.”

Addo- Carr yesterday said the Storm had shifted quickly from toasting Cameron Smith’s 350th game to Friday night’s blockbuster against the Cowboys. “We want to finish … strong, we got five more rounds to go and we want to win that minor premiership.”