SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - MAY 20: Bronson Xerri of the Sharks passes the ball during a Cronulla Sharks NRL training session at PointsBet Stadium on May 20, 2020 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)
Pending Bulldog Bronson Xerri has opened up on his road back to the NRL, a brief plan to join the NFL, and the phone call that changed his career forever.
Xerri was slapped with a four-year ban from ASADA after testing positive to a banned substance in November, 2019, with an anti-doping tribunal ruling his actions as ‘grossly negligent'.
With his ban coming to an end this year, Cantebury swooped on Xerri with a two-year deal, paving a way for the former Cronulla centre to make his league return in 2024.
A meeting with Phil Gould, who first made contact with Xerri's manager over a potential move for the 22-year-old, ignited Xerri's chances of finding a second club, with the New South Welshman keen to land at Belmore after the signing of Cameron Ciraldo as coach.
When he finally begins his tenure under Ciraldo, it will mark a long journey back to the NRL for Xerri, who is sure to look back on some of the darkest days of his ban should he add to his 22 top-flight appearances.
Speaking to The Daily Telegraph, Xerri spoke on the phone call from ASADA that would turn his career on its head, revealing he had undergone several drug tests prior to his positive one.
"It's not a day I'm ever going to forget," Xerri said, speaking on the moment he was informed of the positive test.
"Seven months earlier I had taken the test and seven months later I was getting phone calls from a random number. I didn't know who it was. It was ASADA and they told me I tested positive for a banned substance.”
"...I had seven or eight drug tests before I tested positive. The only drug test that I failed was that one.
"I was young. Still a kid and young and dumb. It was the biggest mistake of my life."
Ready to face the music when he laces up the boots next year, Xerri isn't worried about the names or "drug cheat" taunts that will come his way when his second chance begins.
The ex-Shark has come to accept the platform he's placed himself on following the handed-down ban, ready to move on and "prove everyone wrong" after taking "full ownership".
"At the end of the day I put myself in that position,” Xerri said.
"If they want to call me a drug cheat they can. No one knows how hard I worked to get where I was. If they want to label me a drug cheat because of one mistake I made when I was 19 then so be it. I am ready to shut them all up when I'm back.
"The key is to accept it and move on. The first two years were very tough. I've accepted it. I took full ownership of it and I am ready to move on with my life and career.
"...I'm going to come back and prove everyone wrong. My journey has been an up-and-down roller coaster.
"I would love to come back and make every rep team possible. I want to win a premiership.”
Midway through his ban in 2021, Xerri strongly considered a venture to the NFL given the league doesn't fall under the eye of the World Anti-Doping Authority.
Looking to Valentine Holmes, who spent 2019 with the New York Jets - a move that opened a chance for Xerri at the Shire - to attempt a career in American Football, Xerri got the ball rolling on a potential change with his management.
"I had an opportunity to go over and give it a crack," Xerri said.
"I was sooking at home and not going much so I thought ‘why not give it a go?' There was a chance and management reached out to me to do what Val Holmes did and go to the IMG Academy.
"I was eyeing it off and ready to do it but it didn't work out."
Xerri will need to undergo numerous drug testing across the year for the NRL to register his contract with the Bulldogs.
Should he be given the green light by Round 1 next year, Xerri will be looking to add to his 22 appearances and 13 tries from his sole season with the Sharks.