Bronson Xerri has been predicted to leave the Bulldogs within the next month after he was dropped to NSW Cup amid suggestions he wanted it known publicly he wanted to leave Belmore.
Xerri is set to be dropped for the Bulldogs’ Round 3 clash with the Raiders and was reportedly unhappy with being moved positions, while there were conflicting reports he wanted an immediate release from the club after not being offered an extension.
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Bulldogs CEO Phil Gould met with Xerri to try and calm down the situation, but his future at the club remains uncertain, after the star centre was disgruntled after being dropped following the Round 1 win over the Dragons.
The Daily Telegraph’s Dean Ritchie, who broke the story confirmed there were three factors that influenced Xerri to want to leave the club with immediate effect.
“I got a phone call from someone who I won’t give up because I don’t do that in journalism, but it was from a person who informed me incredibly reliably that Bronson Xerri had decided he was going to leave,” Ritchie said on NRL 360.
“He was going to march into the Bulldogs offices on the Sunday morning. He’d already worked out how he was going to tell his teammates and he was going to seek an immediate release. That’s based on three factors.
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“One was that he’d been told he was going to now move to right centre. He also had been told that he would not be re-signed and the third factor was he’d been told for the Canberra game he would be dropped to NSW Cup.
“So clearly he was upset, he was angry. Ultimately, he had breakfast with Phil Gould. It seems to me the peace pipe has been smoked temporarily, but he’s still unsettled, he’s still upset, and this will ignite again. I’ve got no doubt.”
The conflicting reports around the story led to speculation some facts were wide of the mark, but Ritchie countered that Xerri made no attempt to stop the story reaching the public domain.
“To all the naysayers, who were questioning this story, Bronson Xerri was aware that I was writing that story and made no attempt to quash the story,” Ritchie said.
“I think he wanted it out there, and I think he wanted the world to know that he wanted to leave Belmore.
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“The mail I’m getting is that the Bulldogs don’t necessarily want to push him out, but if there’s any form of agitation for him to go, they will say, go with our blessing.”
The Daily Telegraph’s Brent Read warned it is unlikely that Xerri will be at the club in a month because he is set to play NSW Cup for a period of time and that will likely see him agitate for a release.
“If he stays in NSW Cup for the next month I would imagine he won’t be there because even his management made it clear that he’s got to go back to NSW Cup and prove that he deserves to be in the NRL team,” Read said.
“But if it doesn’t work out in a month, maybe before that, a discussion will be had because Bronson Xerri when he’s at his best is too good to be in NSW Cup and he’s on too much money, so there’s still a bit to play out.”
However, Read denied that this decision was purely around his performance in Round 1 and has been lingering over the summer during pre-season.
“I think this is vested throughout the summer, I don’t think this is a past two-week thing,” Read said.
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“I think there has been some concerns, maybe with his attitude and they’ve taken this step. Clearly all is not well.”
However, Ritchie can’t work out why the Bulldogs want to drop Xerri, given his strong form for the club over the last couple of seasons.
“Am I missing something?” Ritchie said.
“I thought he was an outstanding player last year for the Dogs on their surge to the finals and I thought he was very good in Vegas, so what am I missing here in terms of his form? His form doesn’t warrant playing in NSW Cup.”
Broncos legend Gorden Tallis questioned if the Bulldogs were taking an opportunity to move Matt Burton to the centres and switch Lachlan Galvin to his preferred five-eighth position.
“The pub test is they are moving him on and they want to move Burton to the centres and put another halfback in, which could be Sean O’Sullivan this year, or it could be young Mitch Woods in the future,” Tallis said.
Currently Xerri is not permitted to talk to rival clubs until November 1, but Read warned there are no shortage of clubs that would be interested in his services.
“There are clubs who are watching what’s going on,” Read said.
“I know there’s clubs who need outside back. You look at Melbourne, they’re in the market for an outside back. Parramatta, North Queensland.
“They’re all clubs who are in the market for an outside back and he is a quality outside back when he’s at his best and he’s in the right frame of mind, so there’s no doubt he would be on the radar to those clubs, but he does not have permission as yet to speak to other clubs.”
Anasta noted that it could be in the best interests of both parties to go their seperate ways, which is why he predicts Xerri will leave the Bulldogs in the coming weeks.
“It could be both ways here,” Anasta said.
“He’s not happy playing right centre and robably thinks he should be in first grade over someone like Tuala, so he’s got the shits.
“And then the Bulldogs are thinking, we can save some money on the cap. If our halves don’t work with Burton and Galvin, we’ll move Burton into the centres and it also free’s up some cap space if we want to make a play at someone.
“So they’re probably just going, OK, well, if he’s not happy, then so be it.
“And I think just looking at it from the outside looking in, he won’t be back. He’ll be gone soon I reckon within three weeks.”
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