{"id":593565,"date":"2026-04-08T14:34:15","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T14:34:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/593565\/"},"modified":"2026-04-08T14:34:15","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T14:34:15","slug":"nrl-news-2026-canterbury-bulldogs-coach-cameron-ciraldo-on-bronson-xerri-after-stephen-crichton-shoulder-injury","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/593565\/","title":{"rendered":"NRL news 2026 | Canterbury Bulldogs coach Cameron Ciraldo on Bronson Xerri after Stephen Crichton shoulder injury"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Stephen Crichton<\/a> injury may have paved the way for Bronson Xerri to return to first grade<\/a>, but there is still no certainty what the latter’s future at the Bulldogs<\/a> looks like. <\/p>\n

Xerri was omitted from the Bulldogs’ starting line-up after the first round of the season, with coach Cameron Ciraldo opting in favour of Enari Tuala in the centres.<\/p>\n

Despite being recalled from the NSW Cup squad to the bench for Canterbury’s Good Friday clash with South Sydney, and Crichton going down injured, Xerri was not used as a substitute for the team<\/a>.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Origin star’s clouded future after surprise Roosters call<\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE: Creating the Chiefs: Inside plan to build NRL’s 19th team<\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE: Rivals react to ‘illegal’ Swiatek-Nadal connection<\/a><\/p>\n

The 25-year-old will likely have the next four weeks to prove he is worthy of keeping a spot in first grade as the Bulldogs prepare to adjust to life without their skipper, who is sidelined with a shoulder injury.<\/p>\n

Crichton’s injury will require a weekly assessment to determine exactly when he will return, but Ciraldo said things were looking good with his recovery so far.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Stephen Crichton is attended to by trainers after suffering an AC joint injury.\u00a0NRL Imagery<\/p>\n

In fact, Ciraldo expects the 25-year-old will be fit to play in the State of Origin opener at Accor Stadium on May 27.<\/p>\n

“I think he’ll be ready for (Origin),” Ciraldo said.<\/p>\n

“But the injury has got to heal. He’s been healing pretty well so far.”<\/p>\n

Watch the 2026 NRL season live and free on Nine and 9Now<\/a>.<\/p>\n

While it has been a mixed start to the season for Ciraldo’s men, he has been impressed to see how his playing group, especially Xerri, has responded to criticism.<\/p>\n

Xerri is not the first player to make headlines for requesting a release after being dropped, but he made the most of his opportunity to resurrect his career.<\/p>\n

“It’s just the way he has ripped into his training,” Ciraldo said when asked what had impressed him about Xerri’s return to the team this week.<\/p>\n

\"Bronson<\/p>\n

Bronson Xerri of the Bulldogs scores a try.\u00a0Getty<\/p>\n

“He is not the first person to have a poor response and go home and say something; he’s just ended up in the paper.<\/p>\n

“He has handled himself well since that point. The way he’s training, the way he’s preparing and the way he’s committing himself right now, those are the signs we’re looking for.”<\/p>\n

As for whether his return to the starting line-up means Xerri is going to stay on at the Bulldogs beyond his current deal that expires next season, Ciraldo would not say. <\/p>\n

“We don’t need to think too far ahead right now,” he said.<\/p>\n

“He’s excited about the opportunity he’s got tomorrow night. He’s putting all his eggs in the preparation basket and he’ll be ready to rip in.<\/p>\n

“Some of his best mates are in this team and he loves playing with them. <\/p>\n

“He’s had a bit of a rocky patch there, which many players go through. But his reaction in the last few weeks has been tremendous.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Stephen Crichton injury may have paved the way for Bronson Xerri to return to first grade, but…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":593566,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-593565","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-nrl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/593565","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=593565"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/593565\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/593566"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=593565"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=593565"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=593565"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}