After four years in the NRL wilderness, a Dogs lifeline has a “comeback kid” who is primed to go off.
The kid who made a comeback.
As Bronson Xerri prepares to make his NRL comeback following four years away from rugby league, his Bulldogs teammates are referring to him as such this summer.
Xerri made his NRL debut in 2019 as a teenager with the Sharks, but he was given a four-year ban after testing positive for exogenous testosterone.
Making the most of Canterbury and Phil Gould’s career lifeline is Xerri’s determination to become the next in a long line of rugby league comeback stories.
This is the reason the 23-year-old is embracing his new moniker, which Bulldogs captain Reed Mahoney pointed out to Xerri during a Thursday morning interview at Belmore with foxsports.com.au.
Xerri grinned sardonically and reiterated that he would not take his second opportunity lightly, thinking back to the times he nearly lost the game.
It was up and down for me; at one point, I was like, ‘nah, I am giving away the game,'” Xerri said to foxsports.com.au when asked if he thought he would ever return to the NRL. Then occasionally I’ll say, “No, I need
I’m glad to be here, appreciative of the chance, and I’ll seize it wholeheartedly.
After his suspension, Xerri struggled with his mental health; he has openly discussed these struggles, calling the first two years of his suspension “down and out.”
He explained, “I pretty much just stayed at home and kept in my little shell because I suffered pretty bad with my mental health.”
“I actually started working as a carpenter on a job site for a few months after that, and in the last two years, I just started training with Roger (Fabri) to get my life back on track.”
Xerri clarified, though, that despite his hardships, he gained a lot of valuable life lessons, one of which being gratitude for the life of an NRL player.
Before he was suspended, Xerri was one of the rugby league’s most gifted players. At just 19 years old, he scored 13 tries for the Sharks in 22 games.
Even though Andrew Johns thought he might become an immortal in the future, he needed two shoulder surgeries after his rookie campaign and would soon need a third.
“You don’t really know what you had until something is taken away from you,” Xerri said in reference to gratitude.
“The most important lesson I’ve learned is gratitude. Upon returning, I’m even more appreciative to be here and in this circumstance.
“Everything happens for a reason, and although I wish no one had to go through that, I didn’t want to go through it in order to learn what I had to about myself.
“I’m here, I just have tunnel vision, and I’m ready to look forward. Whenever things get hard while performing physical labor in the field, I just think back to that time and how difficult it was.”
It all comes down to gratitude; I’m incredibly appreciative to be back here and to have been given this second chance. I believe I’ve grown a lot and have learned a lot about myself. I have gained a great deal of knowledge and have come to understand who my
Xerri, a former Moorebank Junior, was signed by Harold Matthews of Cronulla after playing for the Canterbury-Bankstown Under 13s development team.
Following a difficult time during which Xerri struggled with depression, Bulldogs captain Gould shone brightly.
It was only recently that the gun center signed with manager Matt Desira, who promptly let him know that Gould wanted to meet to talk about possibly going back to the sport.
“Gus wants to meet you,” my manager called me after they had coffee, and this was just recently when I signed with him,” Xerri recalled.
I was so happy and my mood was lifted by it that I couldn’t wait to see him again the following morning. From the
Other teams were eager to have meetings with Xerri in order to determine whether or not the once-prodigal talent would be a good fit for their team. But his mind was already set.
“I basically told Gould I was going to be a Bulldog as soon as I left our first meeting,” Xerri recalled.
“Nah, nah, let’s just talk to other teams,” was his response. That was it—I said, “No, listen, I want to be a Bulldog.”
After that, Xerri watched the Bulldogs’ difficult inaugural season under highly regarded coach Cameron Ciraldo from the sidelines in 2023.
