Bulldogs centre Bronson Xerri has been wrestling with his place in rugby league over the summer months – and by “place”, I don’t mean his position in the team.
Coach Cameron Ciraldo dropped the 25-year-old to NSW Cup this week. It followed reports he was unhappy at the club and was set to seek a release. Ciraldo said the decision was less about Xerri’s first-round performance against the Dragons in Las Vegas and more about “a number of other factors around training and preparation and things like that”.
Xerri has made some big off-field changes recently. Finding religion has been a significant one, but not the most. He has also questioned his desire to play rugby league.
He has been through a lot as a person and a player, and it has started to hit home as he has seen the sands shifting. Xerri was involved in a couple of telling moments on the field in Vegas.
The obvious one was the controversial play-the-ball strip in the dying stages of the game. He almost became the villain of a huge match when he appeared to lose the ball, only to have Dragons forward Ryan Couchman penalised for a strip. That weighs on players.
He also could have been the hero had a Connor Tracey pass found him in a hole instead of Marcelo Montoya, who was tackled into touch. Sliding doors moments, but you can’t help but wonder whether things would have played out as they have if the pass was different and Xerri had scored a crucial try.
There is a human being behind the professional footballer, and events such as a change of position and being challenged can create self-doubt. Without the right coping mechanisms, that can also affect thought process, and the results have been laid bare this week.
The Bulldogs have been in Xerri’s corner all the way, and gave him a career lifeline when they signed him after he served a four-year ban for taking anabolic steroids. Last November, the club upgraded Xerri’s contract for 2026 with a one-year extension to the end of 2027.
What many people don’t know is that the club’s general manager, Phil Gould, has a long connection with Xerri. His son Jack grew up playing with Bronson. Gould treated him with care and kindness from day one of his Dogs journey.
When Xerri reflects on the past week, he will agree with the notion that he dropped himself from the Bulldogs side. His decision that he was incapable of playing right centre meant there was no place in the team for him.
The “we over me” motto that was displayed on the Bulldogs’ Las Vegas travel T-shirts was in direct contrast to what Xerri was presenting to the coach.
It was not a crack at Xerri when the players wore the shirts on their bus trip to Canberra this week. It was a reminder to the outside world of what the team stands for and something that Xerri will need to embrace in the days and weeks ahead.
Cheik mate for Albanese
South Sydney heavies say Trent Robinson’s assistant coach, Michael Cheika, was the Rooster who put Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in his place when he entered the lift used by the coaching staff to get to their players at Allianz Stadium on Friday night, when Alex Johnston became the premiership’s leading try scorer.
Albo wanted his glory moment on the field but, with the game on the line, Robinson and the Roosters had work to do. The PM was just after some grandstanding.
The irony is that Cheika grew up supporting Souths but has wasted no time in becoming a Rooster. When we asked Cheika to confirm the story that he told the PM the lift was only for coaches, he wasn’t interested in being quoted about something he thinks is an urban myth. He did know Albo from his time as Wallabies coach and his version is that they said hello to each other. Let’s add it to the Book of Feuds, either way.
What is certain: Roosters chairman Nick Politis told his counterpart Nick Pappas what he thought of Albo being on the ground with thousands of rugby league fans to celebrate Johnston’s milestone. He is also refusing to apologise for the Roosters referring to Souths as “visiting team” on the scoreboard.
“I can’t believe they are crying about that,” Politis said. “It just adds to the rivalry. They need to get over it.”
Madge stands up for Reynolds
Broncos coach Michael Maguire has doubled down on his defence of Adam Reynolds in light of attacks on the perceived professionalism of his captain.
Former Bronco Gorden Tallis has used his media platforms to focus on Reynolds, but more heavily on Maguire. Tallis’ latest crack came after Reynolds flew to Sydney to appear on a rugby league panel show on Fox Sports the day after injuring his ribs.
Tallis said the optics to Broncos fans were poor ahead of the grand final replay against the Storm on Friday night. It’s part of Tallis’ take-down of the Broncos, aiming most of his anger at Maguire, who replaced his best mate, Kevin Walters, as coach.
“At some point there needs to be some respect shown to Adam,” Maguire said.
“For what he has done and for what he is doing. He has won two comps. One here as captain in Brisbane. Since he has come to Brisbane, he has taken the side to two grand finals. That is a great achievement. He has been in the NRL for a long time and played against bigger men. He deserves praise and the criticism of his professional approach is completely unfair.”
We asked Tallis for comment, and as part of a lengthy chat he said that he wanted the matter to go away, and he had nothing personal against Reynolds. But he is not the type to back away from a fight if more was said.
No conspiracy over Tallis name removal
The conspiracy theorists will think that Maguire had something to do with Tallis’ name being taken off a meeting room door at Broncos HQ. He had no idea. Nor did the Broncos’ chief spin doctor Grant Williams, who was using the room as his office. He was the only one using the room as no one else wanted to set foot in there.
Mark my words, there’s no feud
Panthers legend Mark Geyer wanted us to set the record straight on a rumour involving two of the best-known families in rugby league – the Johnses and the Geyers.
Geyer is a radio stablemate of Cooper Johns, with the pair working together on the Continuous Call team on 2GB. There have been rumours in rugby league circles, and also pushed on a segment on Triple M, suggesting Geyer had requested not to work with Cooper, the son of Fox Sports star Matthew Johns.
”This is horseshit but it’s been everywhere. I was sent a link to it on Triple M. I sent Cooper a message saying, ‘Welcome to 2GB’,” Geyer said.
Cooper was shocked but knew the media was hunting the story. “Who wouldn’t like me,” he joked.
Chiefs’ pursuit of Peters ramps up
We told you a few weeks back that in-demand Hull Kingston Rovers coach Willie Peters had strong support to be the Papua New Guinea Chiefs coach when they enter the NRL in 2028. The chase will intensify this week. His collection of titles is impressive, and he is a family man – an important aspect of being part of an organisation who will live in a compound.
Former Parramatta coach Brad Arthur is well regarded, and there is a good chance that he will end up at a club next season. For now, Peters is the favourite for PNG.
Dumb play from Fox
The Fox Sports hatchet men must think their audience is really dumb. They were bagging Phil Gould for not opening up on Bronson Xerri in his role as a panel member on 100% Footy. Yet in the same segment they were discussing coaches who are facing the axe and throwing up rightly that Willie Peters is a leading contender for three jobs – PNG, Manly and the Cowboys.
But they didn’t get a response from his agent, Braith Anasta, who sits on the panel they work on. Fair enough that Anasta is given respect and not put on the spot and grilled – but give that respect to Gould as well.
Hidden agenda
The NRL has been quietly championing Channel 7’s The Agenda Setters. It is smug that the AFL network is dedicating time to the NRL.
Unfortunately, those suits have been forced to drink a schooner of reality (to steal a line from Parramatta coach Jason Ryles). The AFL network put the program on its main free-to-air channel on Tuesday morning at 12.30am after the replay of the Academy Awards.
It’s hard to set the agenda at an hour reserved for home-shopping shows. It’s a shame, as there are quality people on the panel, including Luke Keary and Aaron Woods.
The ratings for the rugby league version of Agenda Setters last Monday were:
Total viewers: 29,000 on 7Mate. A repeat of Jag on Channel 10 and Judge Judy ranked higher. It ranked No. 232 for the night and reached 123,000 viewers (streaming and broadcast).
Ratings for 100% Footy last Monday were:
Total viewers: 217,000 (streaming and broadcast). Ranked in the top 33 shows and reached 1 million viewers.
Galvin’s brave act
Perhaps the most amazing part of Lachie Galvin’s rise out of his hospital bed into the starting side against the Raiders on Thursday night was his appearance at the Menangle trots to watch a trotter called Gus. It’s owned by Jake Turpin and a number of players and the real Gus turned up.
Galvin was there with a drip in his arm under his shirt. Tough and a team player – that’s Galvin. He was in hospital because of an infection and was a solid contributor to the Bulldogs’ gritty 14-10 win over the Raiders.
