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Former Dragons coach Paul McGregor is set to return to the NRL with a gig at the North Queensland Cowboys as Todd Payten looks to ring the changes among his backroom staff.
McGregor, who was most recently seen as one of Brad Fittler’s assistants with New South Wales, will go to Townsville along with Justin Morgan, the long-time New Zealand Warriors assistant and former Hull KR head coach, as part of a major revamp of the Cowboys coaching team.
According to the Daily Telegraph, Todd Payten is looking for fresh ideas following the Cowboys’ poor showing in 2023 and will dispense with his assistants, Steve Georgalis and Dean Young, in favour of new faces in McGregor and Morgan.
McGregor hasn’t worked in the NRL on a full-time basis since losing his job at the Dragons in 2020, when he was fired and replaced by Anthony Griffin. He has been seen at Parramatta as a consultant and with the Blues as an assistant in recent years.
Bronson Xerri has spoken for the first time on his long ban from the NRL following a positive drugs test in a sweeping interview with the Sydney Morning Herald.
The centre, who will join the Bulldogs now that his suspension has ended, spoke of his mental health battles and his hatred for the sport in the period that followed his ban.
“I’m not ashamed about how close I came, but I am ashamed playing the victim,” said Xerri.
“At the end of the day, no one cares. I don’t want to play the violin. I harmed myself. I put myself in this position. No one else.
“For me to play the victim is stupid. It’s simple; I shouldn’t have done what I did. Everything that I’ve been through is because of what I did. I own that. I man up to that.”
Xerri’s ban is now ended and he can begin training with the Bulldogs. He told the Herald of his love of his new club, whom he supported as a boy.
“The day I started to see the light again was the day Gus reached out,” said the centre.
“I still remember I was at home when my manager called and said ‘Gus wants to meet you’. I said ‘Gus? Like as in Gus Gould?
“You have no idea what hearing that did to me. It built this happiness inside of me that I hadn’t felt for a very long time.
“A feeling that I hadn’t felt in nearly three years. I rang my mum. I rang my dad. I rang everyone. I’m meeting Gus tomorrow!
“I was a Bulldogs junior, so I just had this feeling that if I ever played again it would be for them. Then Gus reached out.
“As soon as I saw Gus, I was sold. I was in. I walked out of there saying ‘that’s where I’m going’.
“My manager told me to relax because other clubs would be coming. I said to him ‘no, Dessie, don’t bother with them. I’m going to the Bulldogs’.”
Help is available to anyone experiencing mental health problems, 24 hours a day, by phoning Lifeline on 13 11 14.