Spencer Leniu and Ezra Mam embrace says it all after State of Origin Game 2
The feud between Ezra Mam and Spencer Leniu after their racism row may be over if this moment between the pair is anything to go by.
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The long-running feud between Ezra Mam and Spencer Leniu dating back to a Vegas racism row is all but over after the pair were seen clearing the air before sharing a warm embrace after State of Origin Game 2 on Wednesday night.
Vision, which you can watch above, showed Leniu approach Queensland’s 18th man after full-time, with the pair engaging in a brief conversation that ended in an embrace.
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The touching moment showed they have seemingly finally buried the hatched some 16 months after the Blues enforcer labelled Mam a ‘monkey’ in the Las Vegas season opener between the Roosters and Broncos in 2024.
Leniu copped an eight-match ban for the slur which he insisted was unintentional and was nothing more than “one brown man saying something to another brown man”.
The fallout continued even after he served his suspension with Leniu aggrieved at some of the commentary around the situation from people in the media, namely from Queensland legend Johnathan Thurston, who said the punishment should have been far harsher.
Leniu clearly held a grudge against the Maroons great for his remarks and accused Thurston of being “two-faced” and “fake” following a sideline spat back in April.
Thurston claimed the following day he was “shocked” by Leniu’s hostility, “which was not of a racial nature, but overly aggressive in tone and unwarranted”.
Leniu then posted on his Instagram: “I never wanted to talk to JT. He kept trying to come to speak to me.
“I said, ‘Lad idc (I don’t care) if that you hate me for what I did. But don’t come up to me asking me questions like we’re Algood (sic).
“Don’t be two face. Hate me lad I’m eetswa (sweet) with that. But don’t be fake. I hate fake people.”
Since then Leniu has been on a self-imposed media ban and stayed out of the limelight.
In a great show of character, after full-time, he sought out Mam to bury the hatchet and clear the air with the Broncos star.
And speaking after the exchange, Mam said it had all been settled.
“It’s great that me and Spencer got the chance to see each other face-to-face last night,” Mam told The Sydney Morning Herald.
The Blues and Maroons will now head to a Game 3 decider to be played in Sydney on Wednesday, July 9.
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