Sport Confidential: Ezra Mam’s hilarious viral prank, NRL rejects Bulldogs’ bid to signed sacked forward
Broncos star Ezra Mam has made a hilarious cameo in an online video, taking an oblivious interviewer for a ride when asked what he does for a living. WATCH THE VIDEO.
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Broncos star Ezra Mam has pulled off a hilarious prank which is going viral online.
Mam made a cameo appearance in an online video filmed by Getahead – an app for job searching.
Mam was one of many people approached in the Queen Street Mall in Brisbane and asked what he does for a living and how much he earns.
The interviewer appears to have no idea that Mam is an NRL superstar who will pocket about $1 million per year when his new contract begins in 2025.
Carrying a shopping bag from designer store Gucci, Mam took the interviewer for a ride.
“I’m a robotic engineer and make $70,000 to $150,000-a-year, but I’m on the lower end around $70,000,” Mam says without flinching.
“I did a bit of study but I have a mate that was in the same sort of industry so I got a bit of help from him and went from there.”
Mam is known to be a bit of a character around Red Hill and he had his teammates in stitches when the video surfaced.
BENNETT LANDS NEW MAN
The changes keep coming at Parramatta this time with head of performance Trent Elkin who is set to join Wayne Bennett at South Sydney.
Jason Ryles is putting his stamp on his coaching staff having already told interim coach Trent Barrett that his services would not be required beyond this year. Elkin too has been on the lookout for a new club. It is understood he is close to accepting a deal to be part of Bennett’s coaching staff at South Sydney. Rabbitohs interim coach Ben Hornby will remain on Bennett’s staff, so too will David Furner. The Rabbitohs remain on the lookout for another assistant coach to join their ranks.
Elkin has spent the past five seasons at the Eels having had a long stint at Cronulla before that.
Bennett’s long-term high performance guru Jeremy Hickmans – who has worked with Bennett at Brisbane, Newcastle, South Sydney, St George Illawarra and more recently the Dolphins, will remain with the Dolphins next season.
PERTH’S BOOST AMID DEADLINE EXTENSION
The Perth NRL bid has received a major boost after the Dolphins declared they were the most logical option to become the code’s 18th club.
Expansion hopefuls have been given a little reprieve with the NRL extending its deadline to bid parties.
The NRL originally wanted the criteria they put to the expansion wannabes by the end of this month. However, that date has now been pushed back until August 14 which will allow the relevant parties to get through the copious amount of information the NRL has asked of them.
Perth and North Sydney continue to work towards a partnership agreement for entry by 2027.
PNG will follow a year later meaning just one more spot is open for the 20th team. New Zealand has multiple interested bidders including at least two from the South Island and one from Auckland.
The NRL will also consider the merits of another team in Queensland although that is expected to field resistance from the established clubs. Brisbane Tigers and Brisbane Jets are expected to put in bids.
A host of bid teams have contacted Dolphins CEO Terry Reader to ask him about the process following the Redcliffe club’s successful application to become the NRL’s 17th team.
“I’ve had the pleasure of being involved in a lot of the bids because we are the last team in and to me Perth is the logical next step,” Reader said.
“We are playing the Roosters there next week and it’s sold-out. They’ve been selling games out for 14 years.
“They’ve got their own juniors set up, the government behind them and give us another time zone (for TV).
“It becomes a truly national rugby league by having a team on the west coast.
“That’s the logical next choice. There are probably other markets we need to go to (rather than Brisbane).
“I imagine the next move will be to shore up other markets where we don’t have teams or make sure we get a foothold in.”
NRL REJECTS BULLDOGS’ TAUKEIAHO BID
The NRL have rejected Phil Gould’s bid to have the Bulldogs sign dumped Catalans forward Siosiua Taukeiaho join the club immediately – essentially the reverse of what John Bateman has done.
It is the second time the Bulldogs have unsuccessfully tried to secure the former Roosters forward in as many seasons.
This time though it was the NRL who blocked their request. The Bulldogs reached out to the NRL to see if they could secure the forward after the June 30 deadline.
However, their request was denied because the NRL ruled the mid-season trade window had closed.
Taukeiaho was sacked by the Catalans earlier this month after he skipped a training session to attend a music concert alongside fellow former NRL player Jayden Nikorima. The players pretended to be ill to attend the concert in England.
The Bulldogs forward depth has been severely depleted in recent weeks and were looking to secure Taukeiaho to help with their finals push.
The Bulldogs have lost forwards Max King, Jaeman Salmon and Ryan Sutton in recent weeks which is putting the heat on an already tested forward pack.
They had hoped the NRL may look favourably on them given the decision to allow former Wallaby Mark Nawaqanitawase join the Roosters once his Olympics commitments end.
The NRL told us that the Roosters had applied before the June 30 deadline to sign Nawaqanitawase and he did not technically have a contract to compete at the Olympics with the Roosters granting him permission to compete in Paris.
It is unclear if the Bulldogs will try to pursue Taukeiaho for a third time and have him join the club next season. He still has time to finish the season in the Super League with their transfer window not ending until the end of this month. That is why Bateman was able to leave the Tigers to link with Warrington for the remainder of this year.
Gould had a win against the NRL recently when he successfully appealed a $20,000 fine for calling the game “stupid”. This time around his club hasn’t had the same luck.
Taukeiaho’s planned two year contract with the Bulldogs starting this year was cancelled after he failed a medical in November. The 32-year-old has not played since Catalans’ grand final loss to Wigan last October.
Taukeiaho played one game for New Zealand Warriors in 2013 before a decorated 168 game stint at the Roosters. He played just 10 games with Catalans last season including the premiership decider.
TURN UP TRY TIME
Nice try, or should we say tries, fellas, but it’s time to turn it up a notch.
There were 18 Try July celebrations last weekend, including a Tom Trbojevic volleyball spike, a Jason Saab face mask and a Moses Leota AFL goal signal.
It means Sportsbet has now raised $215,000, which will go to the Australian Skin Cancer Foundation and Toni Hunt, who is battling cancer.
But we’re expecting the celebrations to turn up a notch in the final weekend of the annual fundraiser, particularly with the NRLW players able to contribute.
“The $215,000 raised so far is a great effort by all the players but we really want to go out with a bang this final weekend,” Sportsbet’s Sean Ormerod said.
“Our message for all of Try July has been team celebrations which we haven’t seen yet so hopefully we get one this weekend.”
BRONCO’S CONTRACT PLEA
Broncos veteran Marty Taupau has appealed for a new contract at the club, insisting he isn’t finished in the NRL.
Taupau will celebrate his 250th NRL appearance in Saturday’s clash with the Bulldogs at Suncorp Stadium.
The former Kiwis hitman made his debut for Canterbury in 2010 and has spent the past two seasons at Red Hill.
Off-contract at season’s end, Taupau was tipped to depart Brisbane. But if he has it his way, he will play on with the Broncos in 2025.
“One hundred per cent,” Taupau said when asked if he wanted to remain at Broncos.
“The only thing I can control is playing great football and things will work out.
“I’ve invested a lot of time and money into keeping my body in good nick.
“People say I’ve wound back the clock, but the clock hasn’t stopped ticking.
“Coming here to the Broncos was definitely a risky move. But without risks there’s no rewards and this has been one of the biggest rewards, playing my 250th game here at such an amazing club.
“I’m really grateful I get to play my 250th game here in front of a huge Suncorp Stadium crowd.”
MAROONS TOP JOB VOTE
Veteran rugby league administrator Brian Canavan and one of the state’s top finance gurus have emerged as the leading contenders to become the QRL’s next chairman.
The Queensland Rugby League board was expected to meet on Thursday and vote for its next leader ahead of Bruce Hatcher’s departure.
Hatcher will formally step down from the chairman role on October 31 following seven years in the job.
Former Roosters boss and NRL big wig Canavan is a leading contender along with Brendan O’Farrell, the former boss of superannuation fund Intrust Super.
‘BOF’ has held a long association with the QRL, sponsoring the Queensland Cup for a number of years before retiring when the fund merged with Hostplus.
He joined the QRL board this year and is a smoky for the top job.
Hatcher was formally farewelled by the NRL at last week’s State of Origin series decider at Suncorp Stadium, where he was referred to as a “warrior”.
Hatcher hasn’t backed down from a fight with League Central over the years and is still pushing for the QRL to receive more funding.
He was shattered to see the Maroons lose in his last series with the QRL.
CROKER ON THE MEND
Lachlan Croker will make his long awaited return to rugby league this weekend having brushed off fears his career was in doubt.
The Sea Eagles hooker will feature in Manly’s NSW Cup team having overcome neck/concussion concerns which at one point cast question marks if he would be able to get back on the field.
Croker has not played since round nine after picking up the injury. He made his way slowly back onto the training paddock in recent weeks.
Manly’s feederside Blacktown take on the Roosters on Saturday. Croker will play alongside former Test prop Aaron Woods who is also making his comeback from injury.
PANTHERS SNARE TIGERS GUN
The Panthers have snuck under the guard of cross-town rivals Wests Tigers by signing highly touted forward Zak Clarke on a one year deal from next season.
Penrith pounced when Clarke was unable to come to any terms with the Tigers.
The goalkicking forward, 20, has spent time in NSW Cup and Jersey Flegg this year.
His brother Cooper – who was also a Tigers junior – has impressed at the Storm’s feeder club and has only recently inked a five-year contract. At just 18 he won the Mal Meninga Cup’s weapon of the year award.
HAUMOLE’S PLEA
Haumole Olakau’atu only had one question for the NRL officials who banished him to the sheds during last week’s Origin game – was there a television in the changerooms?
Olakau’atu accepted his fate when he was told he had to leave the sidelines having become involved in the sideline melee despite not being part of the NSW squad.
SUTTON ON HOLIDAY
South Sydney premiership winner Jason Clark has been running the blue shirt in recent weeks in the absence of regular trainer John Sutton.
Sutton was granted two weeks leave for the Rabbitohs – the first time during a footy season in close to two decades – to enjoy a surfing holiday in Indonesia alongside former UFC fighter Richie Vaculik. He is back on deck this weekend.
DOLPHINS HOLD OFF RIVALS
The Broncos had an interest in securing Dolphins fullback Trai Fuller before he opted to remain at the club.
The tensions between the two clubs would have intensified with the Broncos believing Fuller could have been the perfect replacement for the Super League bound Tristan Sailor.
Instead they missed their man after he opted to recommit with the Dolphins for the next two seasons.
LATIMORE GETS IN THE RING
Rugby league journeyman Jeremy Latimore is set to make his boxing debut with the former prop taking on William Nowlan next month. Latimore will take on Nowlan at
The Grand Vaudeville, Condell Park. Nowlan has two losses from his three fights. Latimore will be fighting out of the Tszyu Academy with Tim and Nikita’s cut man Mark Gambin in his corner.
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