NRL axing was 'kick up the arse' Bronson Xerri needed

Xerri had become a fixture of the Bulldogs' backline en route to last year's finals series and admitted he had begun taking his spot for granted prior to his axing.

"I just got a bit comfortable in myself and wasn't really giving it all at training. It was that kick up the arse that I needed," he said of being dropped.

Xerri's perspective may not have always been so level-headed.

Coach Cameron Ciraldo criticised the 25-year-old in the immediate aftermath of his axing when media reports emerged he wanted out of his Bulldogs contract.

Xerri would not be drawn on whether he had ever hoped for a release from the deal that runs through 2027.

"I'm not going to say anything, sorry," he said.

But the centre acknowledged he did some serious soul-searching during his time sidelined from the NRL, a situation he knows all too well.

Xerri tested positive to anabolic steroids following his 2019 rookie season with Cronulla but was thrown a lifeline by the Bulldogs after serving his four-year ban.

"I've been through something similar to this, much worse, to be fair. I know how to handle these things," Xerri said.

"When it's all gone, you don't realise what you've got. When I was playing NSW Cup, I was like, 'this is not where I belong, this is not where I want to be.'

"I went home and asked some hard questions about myself, came back and got the opportunity tonight and tried to take it with both hands."

Xerri is now poised for extended time in the centres given Stephen Crichton's shoulder injury could sideline the Bulldogs captain into next month.

He impressed Ciraldo in his first game back.

"The most pleasing thing, which no one would have seen, is how well he was communicating out there," he said.

"The players in the sheds were already talking about that. That was something that he needed to go and work on. 

"Awesome to see he's brought that into his game."