{"id":390168,"date":"2024-05-02T20:57:15","date_gmt":"2024-05-02T20:57:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=390168"},"modified":"2024-05-02T22:04:53","modified_gmt":"2024-05-02T22:04:53","slug":"body-was-never-so-sore-xerris-warning-to-nrl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=390168","title":{"rendered":"'Body was never so sore': Xerri's warning to NRL"},"content":{"rendered":"

Three games into his return from a four-year stint in NRL<\/a> purgatory, Bronson Xerri<\/a> has sent his opponents a chilling warning.<\/p>\n

The Bulldogs<\/a> centre, back in the big league after serving a performance-enhancing drugs ban, is playing strongly – but believes he will get a whole lot better.<\/p>\n

"I was out for a long time and while I was training just about every day, it's not the same as playing," Xerri told Wide World of Sports.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> 'Bad habits' haunt Rabbitohs in loss to Panthers<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

\ufeffREAD MORE:<\/strong> NRL whacks Gould with big fine over 'so stupid' spray<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> 'Sickening' hypocrisy after AFL's pledge to women<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

"I'm still finding my fitness and my timing – I'm happy with the way I've returned but believe I can get much better.<\/p>\n

"It's been a tough journey and a learning lesson for me, the past four years, and I'm just glad I'm back."<\/p>\n

\"Bulldogs<\/p>\n

Bulldogs coach Cameron Ciraldo started the 23-year-old in the NSW Cup for the opening three rounds of his comeback season – and Xerri is happy he did.<\/p>\n

"It would have been really hard coming straight back into the NRL," the former Shark said.<\/p>\n

"Playing reserve grade allowed me to find my feet and get my confidence back – but it's still a process."<\/p>\n

Watch the 2024 NRL premiership live and free on Nine and <\/strong><\/em>9Now<\/strong><\/em><\/a>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Xerri, who worked with sprint guru Roger Fabri during his four-year banishment, is still finding the right mix of pace and power.<\/p>\n

"I was 95 kilos when I was last playing – now I'm up to 101," he explained.<\/p>\n

"I'm probably the same speed thanks to Roger but I aim to drop two to three kilos and maybe get faster still.<\/p>\n

\"Xerri<\/p>\n

"The game has definitely got quicker in just four years and after my first trial a few months ago, my body was never so sore.<\/p>\n

"I'm still doing a lot of huffing and puffing but getting fitter every game."<\/p>\n

The critics on social media haven't allowed Xerri to forget his big mistake in taking steroids to overcome a nagging injury four years ago but he has learned to shrug them off.<\/p>\n

"I've found that there are plenty of haters out there but only online – I just block that all out," he said.<\/p>\n

"They can keep hating. They are just keyboard cowards and they don't worry me."<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Three games into his return from a four-year stint in NRL purgatory, Bronson Xerri has sent his opponents a chilling warning. The Bulldogs centre, back […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":390170,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/390168"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=390168"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/390168\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":390173,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/390168\/revisions\/390173"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/390170"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=390168"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=390168"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=390168"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}