Canterbury Bulldogs general manager Phil Gould is keeping his cards close to his chest around Bronson Xerri with the expectation he is set to be dropped to the NSW Cup.
Xerri is reportedly disgruntled after being moved to right centre and now his position in the first-grade side is under threat.
Gould had breakfast with Xerri the day after it was reported the 25-year-old could be looking for a release from the club.
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On Nine’s 100% Footy, Gould was asked to clarify what was happening and initially offered little.
“Don’t you worry about Bronson, he’ll be right,” he said.
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Paul Gallen then put it to Gould that Xerri would be in reserve grade this week and that he couldn’t be all right.
The Bulldogs boss stayed sheepish.
“Team list Tuesday comes out tomorrow, I don’t know, I don’t pick the team,” he said, drawing laughs from the panel.
Cameron Smith, like many former players, said Xerri and the Bulldogs just needed to concentrate on their football.
Gould agreed by offering his longest statement on the matter.
“The biggest thing is you can’t get caught up with the speculation in the media, I can’t control what the media says and what they speculate and we don’t want to buy into it,” he said.
“We know what we’re doing internally, we know what the situation is, we’ll keep working hard for the future and that’s all we need to do.”
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The Bulldogs play the Raiders on Thursday night, with the team to be announced at 4pm (AEDT) on Tuesday.
