Michael Maguire makes call on Ezra Mam's future at Broncos after plea from Reece Walsh
Brisbane's five-eighth was charged by police this week over an alleged drug driving incident.
Brisbane coach Michael Maguire insists Ezra Mam "hasn't" played his last game for the Broncos after the 21-year-old was charged this week over an alleged drug driving incident in October. Mam is set to appear in Brisbane Magistrates Court on December 16 charged with driving while a relevant drug was present in his blood and driving without a licence. It stems from a head-on-crash with an Uber driver in the Brisbane suburb of Bardon last month that reportedly left the male driver with serious bruising and a four-year-old female passenger with a fractured hip.
The NRL star checked himself into rehab after the incident and said after he was charged this week that he "understands the seriousness of the situation". Mam said he will respect the legal process and work hard to earn back the trust of the Broncos and to live up to the expectations expected of him by the club and community.
There had been suggestions that Mam's five-year, $4 million contract could be torn up by the Broncos, but teammate Reece Walsh pleaded with the club to give him a second chance. And on Friday, Maguire gave an emphatic answer when asked whether the 21-year-old had played his last game of footy for the club. “No, he hasn’t," the Broncos coach told Brisbane radio station 4BC. “We are working through things and I am working through with the organisation around the whole situation.
“We need to make sure we are slow about our decisions because we have to see everything for what it is. It’s a big incident and it’s not taken lightly, but Ezra is working on himself and making sure he is going through his process. We will need to connect with everyone who has been involved in that accident.”
Mam's stint in rehab will reportedly set him back some $100,000 and he may have to pay for the damages to both vehicles and medical costs because he was allegedly driving without a license. Mam is also expected to be looking at a hefty fine from both the NRL integrity unit and the Broncos that could exceed $50,000. He is also likely to be hit with a two or three month ban from the NRL which would sideline the star for the first eight to 12 rounds of the 2025 season.
Broncos coach says Ezra Mam saga is a wake-up call for club
Maguire says it's still too early to speculate on any potential sanctions for Mam but said the club would continue to support the young playmaker while the legal process plays out. However, Maguire has praised Mam for taking ownership of his actions after touching on themes around responsibility several times already in his first weeks as Brisbane coach.
The veteran mentor - who was brought in to improve the standards and culture at the Broncos - described the Mam saga as a massive wake-up call for the whole club and says it's imperative they take important lessons from it moving forward. “Culture makes great organisations so we have to all take ownership for what’s going on,” Maguire added.
“Moving forward we will be steady and slow about our decision (on Mam) but we need to make sure as an organisation we take the incident and make sure we grow from that. That’s the last thing we want to be around, is something like that. We have to go through the process, the charges have come out and Ezra is working on himself.
“It then goes to the NRL and they and the Broncos will deal with the situation. It will be what it will be, but we have to change where we have been as a club and use this moment in time to improve and build the culture on what we want it to be.”
Reece Walsh urged Broncos to give Ezra Mam another chance
Maguire's comments come after Broncos teammate Walsh threw his support behind Mam and urged the club to give his good mate a second chance. Mam's stint in rehab is just about complete but he's not expected to return to Broncos training until the new year.
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“I feel for Ezra, he is an awesome person for a start,” Walsh told The Courier Mail earlier this month. “He is going through a tough time at the moment and everyone in this club feels for him. They know the bloke Ezra is and how caring he is. We have his back and it’s important we are there for him and we support him.
“Ezra is an awesome person and anyone that’s had a genuine conversation with him or has met him will understand that. In this case, he has made a poor decision, but that doesn’t define who he is as a person or define the future. I know he will learn from it. He will take the actions he needs to do to come back in the right way.”
