Bulldogs great whacks Xerri over lack of resilience

The centre met with Bulldogs supremo Phil Gould on Sunday morning, and while he has not requested a release he is understood to be unhappy at the club.

Xerri's own interim manager even chimed in on Sunday, insisting the speedster needed to not kick stones and instead fight his way back into first grade.

One suggestion has been that Xerri was unhappy at being switched from left to right centre, in order to accommodate Stephen Crichton's move the other way.

And on Monday Morris, one of the Bulldogs' best centres of the 21st century, had his own swing at the 25-year-old.

"Having to play a different side of the field and cracking the shits about it. There's no resilience there," Morris said on the Continuous Call Team's Offload podcast.

"If he did get dropped to reserve grade, well then show some resilience, put in good performances and get back in the team. 

"These days, players just expect to be first graders. The jersey isn't yours. You have to perform."

Morris also took the extraordinary step of reminding Xerri that he had served a four-year ban for performance-enhancing drugs before arriving at Canterbury, who welcomed him back to the NRL in 2024.

"He had four years out of the game, you would have thought he would have built up a bit of resilience," Morris said.

"The Bulldogs gave him the shot when no one else wanted to. And Bulldogs fans don't forget that either. 

"I want to see him stay in the Bulldogs jersey. I think he's a great player. But  we'll have to see."

Enari Tuala is expected to come in for Xerri against the Raiders on Friday night.

A Matt Burton move to the centres in the future could allow uncapped rookie Mitchell Woods to come into the halves, setting up a long-term pairing with Lachlan Galvin.

Morris's comments came as Penrith coach Ivan Cleary denied any suggestion of the Panthers welcoming Xerri in a swap for Izack Tago, claiming someone had been telling "porky pies".