Robin Bailey clashes with Corey Oates over Ezra Mam crash penalty
Brisbane radio co-hosts have clashed on air over the fallout from Broncos player Ezra Mam’s drug driving charges.
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Brisbane radio co-hosts Robin Bailey and Corey Oates have clashed on air over the fallout from Bronco Ezra Mam’s drug-driving charges.
Tension soared on KIIS 97.3’s brand new breakfast show as Bailey, former Bronco player Oates and returning co-host Kip Wightman kicked off their inaugural broadcast.
When the topic turned to Mam’s recent nine-game ban and $120,000 fine following a crash in which he was found to have drugs in his system and been unlicensed, Oates jumped to the player’s defence, insisting young athletes often make mistakes.
“A lot of 20-year-olds, 19 and 18 and 21 you know, they all make mistakes, no one has it worked out,” Oates argued.
“When you’re young, you always make mistakes.
“Everyone expects him to have it worked out faster than everyone else at his same age.
“I think it [the punishment] is fair, definitely.”
Oates even admitted his own close call as a teenager.
“I fell asleep at the wheel when I was a kid, when I was 19,” he revealed.
“But I was just lucky it was in traffic. And I was going about 30km, and I hit a kerb in the middle of the highway.
“I quickly woke up and, veered off and went and parked around the corner and had a little rest. And that was after work. I worked and trained, and I was just tired.
But Bailey doubled down, urging the Bronco to speak up publicly and apologise.
“He could have killed someone though,” she said.
“Why won’t he speak? … He needs to come out and start to actually publicly address and say sorry, like people are judging him by his silence now.”
When Oates suggested Mam “might not be ready,” to make a public apology, Bailey cut him off in exasperation.
“You lose the right to be ready if you take drugs and hit someone else’s car, that’s the whole point,” she said, suggesting the rugby league star’s silence sends “the wrong message” to devoted fans and impressionable kids.
Oates, however, stood his ground.
“He made a massive mistake, and he’s very lucky that it didn’t end up a lot worse than what it did. But I am a massive believer in second chances,” he insisted.
“If he makes a mistake again, I’d go to him and be like ‘mate, what the?’”.
In December, Mam addressed media outside court after his sentence, flanked by his legal team, reading a short statement where he apologised profusely for his actions.
Outraged callers were quick to blast Oates’ sympathy, with one fuming, “I’m appalled Corey Oates, that you think the punishment (fit) the crime,” one called said.
Others backed Oates, praising his compassion. “He’s young — don’t ruin his life over one mistake,” one person said.
Despite the uproar, Mam remains tight-lipped, reportedly undergoing rehab while awaiting his return to the field after nine NRL games on the sidelines.
Originally published as Robin Bailey clashes with Corey Oates over Ezra Mam crash penalty
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