Two and a half years ago Josh Addo-Carr started settling back into Sydney life after leaving his one-time Melbourne Storm home.

The success enjoyed under coach Craig Bellamy was brilliant for a career that could have ended following the sack from Wests Tigers after just nine NRL appearances – but after five seasons and two premierships, something was missing that had little to do with playing the game.

A new four-year deal to join Canterbury was never about the cash, but about being closer to his extended Gunggandji, Birrbay and Wiradjuri family.

"I'm loving being back in Sydney, being around family and all of my mates and loved ones," Addo-Carr told Nine media in 2022.

True to his word, the Bulldogs' contract – reportedly worth about the $2 million mark over its term – was an upgrade on the deal from his final years at the Storm of around $375,000 a season.

But leaving the NRL's perennial finalists was hardly going to blow his bank account out.

What Addo-Carr never told a press conference on his Melbourne departure was there was a plan in the offering.

And it wasn't just focused on lifting Canterbury up the ladder.

Moving back to the western suburbs of Sydney, the heartland of the game after living in the city of café latte-sippers, which the winger was one on chilly mornings, the Foxx's profiled lifted dramatically.

The money has since come, built from a legacy as arguably the fastest man in a rugby league over the years.

But it's riding a horse, not dashing with ball in hand that he pulls off a genius marketing exercise that could power him to speeds his legs could only dream.

In a different time, a different era of the game, the gimmick wouldn't fly, but this is a face of the new-age businessman of 2022 – also his first season at Canterbury.

He invests his extra bucks into his new Lets Trot apparel in online streetwear stores.

It's not revolving around horse racing or a name of a syndicate, but the Foxx is jockeying for a slice of the market in a commercial for his hoodies, t-shirts and caps with a unique style.

The subtlety of advertising proves it's all in the name.

How else could Addo-Carr ride a horse down a suburban Sydney street to sell a range of streetwear to young buyers and at the end of the commercial he has Bulldogs football boss Phil Gould stare down the camera and have the 66-year-old hilariously say, "Let's trot, baby!"

"When we were teenagers, all of my cousins used to say it," Addo-Carr says.

"When I shared it out on Instagram, everyone started saying it.

"They love saying it and now they have a chance to wear it."

Inside the first 18 months of trading, the brand turned over more than $1 million.

The target audience out wearing the apparel is firmly a follower of Addo-Carr, even if not a Bulldogs supporter or an admirer of his memorable Storm run that over 118 matches yielded 96 exhilarating tries.

The showman that can hardly draw breath without famously cackling aloud nowadays draws in 302k followers through Instagram.

That's the genius of Addo-Carr's marketing that spreads over to YouTube and TikTok as well.

Even away from his 31 tries in his first 44 appearances for the Bulldogs, the 28-year-old's name continues to grow and that keeps the sales flowing since teaming up with recently-retired NRL winger Josh Mansour on their innovative Lets Trot podcast.

The pair get the interviews with rugby league names that the mainstream media only wishes and while encouraging their guests to be themselves in what is a carefree flow to the conversation.

"Everyone knows me as a person, who always has fun and enjoys what he does," he says about the podcast.

"I enjoy this kind of stuff; I want to put a smile on people's faces.

"We just wanted to make a video, come up with something different and be creative at the same time."

The latest estimation of his net worth allegedly has grown past the $3 million mark.

The empire grows and grows for the blackfulla from Blacktown, but it could've gone the other way.

Addo-Carr has said multiple times about the story of a "hectic" early childhood in nearby Doonside, where his mum made a choice to move away from an area that was known for drugs, alcohol, violence, and bad partying.

Moving to Redfern to be more central to learning more about his culture proved to his saviour.

"It was a big sacrifice, she made a tough decision, but she put us kids first," he says.