Banned NRL drug cheat Bronson Xerri reveals he hasn’t watched a minute of footy since long ban

Bronson Xerri has revealed that he has not watched a minute of rugby league since receiving a four-year ban in September 2020 for testing positive for steroids four months earlier.

The former Cronulla Sharks prodigy has begun his journey back to first grade football after signing a two-year deal with Canterbury and will be allowed to return to the NRL from the 2024 season.

And Xerri told him news corporation he hasn’t exactly kept an eye on rugby league in the last three years, choosing not to watch any games and ‘not even Origin’.

Bronson Xerri has returned to training with the Bulldogs after receiving a four-year suspension in September 2020 for testing positive for steroids four months earlier.

That will surely change now that the speedy center is back in training with the Bulldogs, after Canterbury supremo Phil Gould personally intervened to convince him to sign a two-year deal shortly before Christmas.

The contract, however, will not be officially registered unless Xerri passes all drug tests between now and November.

The 22-year-old appealed against the four-year ban which was later upheld by the NRL Court of Appeal, but had so far kept quiet about the doping scandal.

However, speaking to News Corp, the former Shark admitted the ban had had a major impact on his mental health and insisted he was ready to silence his detractors once he returns to the NRL.

Xerri burst onto the scene as a lightning-fast cross in 2019, scoring 13 tries

“If they want to call me a drug cheat, they can,” he said.

‘No one knows how hard I worked to get to where I was. If they want to label me a drug cheater for a mistake I made when I was 19, then so be it. I’m ready to shut you all up when I get back.

‘The key is to accept it and move on. The first two years were very hard. I’ve accepted it. I’ve taken full responsibility and I’m ready to move on with my life and career.”

The outside center is determined to prove his doubters wrong once he returns to the NRL

Xerri became a football sensation when he scored 13 tries for the Sharks during an impressive debut season, including a hat-trick in a 22-9 win over St George Illawarra.

Cronulla finished seventh on the ladder and were eventually beaten by Manly in the elimination final, with the center scoring in a 28-16 defeat.

But after nearly three years out of the NRL, he admitted he was surprised when Gould approached him about signing with the Bulldogs.

The former Sharks center credited Phil Gould with bringing him back to the NRL

‘I had nothing going for me. I was in a vulnerable state,’ she said.

‘I was going to start negotiating with the teams. Gus was the first to approach. He was a genuine guy and he told me that he had big plans.

New Bulldogs coach Cameron Ciraldo has revealed how “a couple of coffees” with the youngster, in which he was candid about his past misdeeds, convinced him to take a punt at center.

“I’ve never met Bronson,” Ciraldo told The Bye Round Podcast last month.

New Bulldogs boss Cameron Ciraldo said last month that Xerri deserved a second chance.

“I had a couple of coffees with him and was really impressed with how open he was about mistakes he made in the past and how willing he was to make up for them.

“We look for good people, and based on my interactions with Bronson, he is a good person.

“That gave me confidence that the person Bronson will be when he returns to the NRL is the type of person you want at the club.”

“He deserves a second chance, I’m happy we can give it to him.”