Bronson Xerri has made the sad revelation he no longer has any close friends at the Sharks, while tipping an "interesting" clash with his former team next year.
Xerri made his NRL debut with Cronulla in 2019 and played the entire season in his rookie campaign, before being banned from the NRL for four years for testing positive to a banned substance.
Next Thursday he will officially begin the second phase of his career when he walks into Belmore to begin life with the Bulldogs.
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Priority number one is to get selected in Cameron Ciraldo's round one side next season.
And once that happens, there will be one game on the calendar Xerri has circled.
"It will be interesting – hopefully I make the team – but when I play Sharks it will be very interesting to see how that goes," Xerri told the Let's Trot Show and podcast host Josh Mansour.
"I've got this feeling… if I'm in the team, I think it's round one, I reckon it's against Sharks. If the draw comes out and it's against Sharks… wow."
Xerri was still a teenager when his world came crashing down and his NRL career brought to a sudden halt.
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And while he says his Sharks teammates were generally supportive at first, the communication soon became zero.
"I don't, no," he said when asked if he speaks to any former teammates.
"A few of the boys (reached out), but to be fair I kind of (cut myself off). It was just such a bad time in my life, I didn't even want to watch football, anything to do with footy.
"Obviously it was my fault, but I don't know… I just cut myself off from everyone. I was in my little shell at home and whoever wanted to call me… I think I turned my phone off.
"A few of the Sharks boys reached out, but to this day I only keep in contact with Woodsy (Aaron Woods). He's a legend, I got on well with him.
"Gal (Paul Gallen) reached out to me, I've always respected Gal."
Xerri's talent was so obvious when he burst onto the NRL scene that he was soon considered a future State of Origin mainstay.
He says he failed to put a back-up plan in place, which led to a feeling of hopelessness when rugby league was suddenly taken from him.
"I was battling myself. I suffered pretty bad from depression and mental health," he said.
"If I look back now it was such a waste of four years. I was just getting up and going to the gym, that was it, that was my day."
There was a bright spark for Xerri a year ago when he received a phone call from Phil Gould.
The Bulldogs football boss asked for a sit-down – a coffee date that will result in Xerri donning the blue and white from next week.
"Gus was the first one to reach out. It was massive, I felt like it was a massive morale boost," Xerri said.
"It just lifted my spirits. When I met Gus it was like 'I want to play for the Bulldogs', straight out.
"When Gus sat me down he just said, 'I want you and Foxx (Josh Addo-Carr) to work together, you've got that speed'.
"I'm excited. I just want to be happy when I go in there, and I think that's the key to playing good football."
Xerri joins fellow gun centre Stephen Crichton in what should be an exciting Bulldogs backline next season.
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