Bronson Xerri (, "sherry") (born 10 September 2000) is an Australian professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

footballer who currently plays as a for the

Canterbury Bulldogs The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Belmore, a suburb in the Canterbury-Bankstown region of Sydney. They compete in the NRL Telstra Premiership, as well as competitions facilita ...

in the

National Rugby League The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...

(NRL). To date, he is one of only two players in the history of the game (the other being

Anthony Xuereb Anthony Xuereb (born 28 June 1970) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played for the Penrith Panthers and Western Suburbs in the New South Wales Rugby League premiership. To date, he is one of only two players in ...

) with a last name beginning with the letter "X".

Background

Xerri was born in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, New South Wales, Australia, and is of Maltese descent. He played his junior rugby league for the Aquinas Colts.

Career

2019

Xerri made his debut in Round 4 of the

2019 NRL season The 2019 NRL season was the 112th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 22nd season run by the National Rugby League. The Sydney Roosters became the first team to win back-to-back Premierships since the Brisbane Broncos in 1992 ...

against the

Parramatta Eels The Parramatta Eels are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Sydney suburb of Parramatta that competes in the National Rugby League. The Parramatta District Rugby League Football Club was formed in 1947, and their ...

. Xerri went on from there and kept playing in the centres for the next two rounds of the season where he scored his first NRL career try against the

Penrith Panthers The Penrith Panthers are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the western Sydney suburb of Penrith that competes in the NRL. The team is based west of the centre of Sydney, at the foot of the Blue Mountains. Penrith ...

in Round six at Melbourne Albert park In Round 10 against rivals St George, Xerri scored his first career hat-trick as Cronulla won the match 22–9 at

Kogarah Oval Jubilee Stadium, also known as Kogarah Oval or by its sponsored name Netstrata Jubilee Stadium, is a multipurpose stadium in Carlton, New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. The stadium is mainly used for rugby league and the A-League, and is one ...

. The following week, Xerri scored two tries as Cronulla defeated Parramatta 42–22. In Round 20, Xerri scored 2 tries as Cronulla defeated South Sydney 39–24 at

Shark Park Sharks are a group of elasmobranch fish characterized by a Chondrichthyes#Skeleton, cartilaginous skeleton, five to seven gill slits on the sides of the head, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified with ...

. In Round 22 against St George, Xerri scored the winning try as Cronulla won the match 18–12 at

. At the end of the 2019 regular season, Cronulla finished in 7th place on the table. Xerri played in the club's elimination final match which Cronulla lost 28–16 against

Manly-Warringah The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Sydney's Northern Beaches. The team colours are maroon and white, while their namesake and logo is the sea eagle. They compete in Australia's premier rugb ...

Brookvale Oval Brookvale Oval (also known by the commercial sponsorship name 4 Pines Park) is a sporting ground located within Brookvale Park at Brookvale, New South Wales, Australia. The ground is owned by Northern Beaches Council and is primarily used by th ...

with Xerri scoring a try in the loss.

2020

On 26 May 2020, Xerri was provisionally suspended after failing a drug test. On 1 September, Xerri's B-Sample returned and confirmed he had tested positive to use of anabolic steroids. The NRL released a statement saying “The National Rugby League (NRL) has today issued Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks player Bronson Xerri with a Notice of Alleged Anti-Doping Rule Violations under the NRL’s Anti-Doping Policy,” the NRL said in a statement. “This follows the return of a positive sample and completion of the anti-doping process administered by Sport Integrity Australia. “The Notice alleges that Mr Xerri breached the policy through the presence, use and possession of Anabolic Androgenic Steroids prohibited by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the NRL’s Anti-Doping Policy".

2021

On 23 March, the NRL confirmed that Xerri had been formally suspended for four years following a ruling made by the NRL Anti-Doping Tribunal. Xerri will be free to resume his career from November 2023. In response to his appeal being rejected and the ban upheld, Xerri said “For all you haters calling me a drug cheat, you all have no clue how much I put in the work to be where I was, and to my loyal family and friends, words can’t express how much you all mean to me. The comeback is on, 2024".

2022

On 2 December, it was announced that the

Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Belmore, a suburb in the Canterbury-Bankstown region of Sydney. They compete in the NRL Telstra Premiership, as well as competitions facilita ...

had offered Xerri a two-year deal starting in 2024 after his doping ban is completed.

References

External links

Sharks profile
2000 births Living people Australian people of Maltese descent Australian rugby league players Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks players Doping cases in Australian rugby league Newtown Jets NSW Cup players People educated at Endeavour Sports High School Rugby league centres Rugby league players from Sydney {{Australia-rugbyleague-bio-stub