NRL 2024: Ezra Mam’s fall from Brisbane Broncos grand final hero to rehabilitation clinic following the Las Vegas racism scandal
Broncos star Ezra Mam had the world at his feet after starring in an NRL grand final and securing a $4 million contract. Now he is in a rehabilitation clinic and fighting for his future, a decline which stems from the infamous Vegas racism saga.
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A Las Vegas racism scandal triggered the fall of Broncos star Ezra Mam from NRL grand final hero to a Brisbane rehabilitation clinic.
Mam has sought professional help following a car crash in Brisbane last week that has left him fighting for his $4 million Broncos contract.
Mam was allegedly driving unlicensed and returned a positive roadside drug test after his Ford Ranger utility collided with a Toyota Camry in Brisbane’s west last Friday night.
Police are still investigating the incident and are awaiting the results of a secondary drug test.
No charges have been laid.
Mam, 21, was in the process of moving house, having recently purchased a property closer to the Broncos’ club headquarters at Red Hill, than his hometown Ipswich.
His possessions are still lying in the tray of the ute in a Brisbane wreckers’ yard.
A little more than a year ago, Mam announced himself as one of the NRL’s emerging superstars following a remarkable individual performance in the 2023 grand final.
His second half hat-trick blitz against Penrith took Brisbane to the cusp of clinching the club’s first NRL title since 2006.
At age 20, Mam was 15 minutes away from winning the prestigious Clive Churchill Medal for being the best player in the grand final.
Instead, Panthers maestro Nathan Cleary orchestrated a stunning comeback to deliver Penrith a third straight premiership and himself the CC Medal.
A shattered Mam wept in the arms of family in Brisbane’s dressing rooms that night after the Broncos lost the seemingly unlosable grand final.
But a star had been born – perhaps too quickly for what Mam was able to handle.
THE INCIDENT
Mam plays rugby league with the instinctive brilliance that has made many Indigenous players some of the game’s greatest.
He also marches to the beat of his own drum, having python snakes as pets and rocking his own dress and fashion sense, which regularly includes painted nails.
When he fronted for Brisbane’s presentation ball last year, a few days after the grand final loss, Mam was the only person at the venue wearing shorts.
He was singled out by Broncos CEO Dave Donaghy and modelled his unique look to the applause of 700 people.
Now he has been isolated from the outside world after surrendering his mobile phone at the clinic and deactivating the Instagram account that boasts more than 100,000 followers.
One of the NRL’s most popular players has vanished in a haze of sirens following the head-on crash with an Uber carrying a mother and her four-year-old daughter.
The seat belt bruises of the mother and daughter, along with a reported fractured hip for the child, suggests this was no minor bingle after Mam’s car allegedly veered on to the wrong side of Simpsons Road in Bardon.
Photographers captured a distraught Mam lying on the grass of Accor Stadium after Brisbane’s grand final defeat.
Last Friday night he lay on a nature strip, being tended to by members of the public, police and paramedics after his life had been tipped on its head.
How did it come to this for one of Queensland’s brightest young prospects?
THE STORM
Mam celebrated his 21st birthday with a party on Saturday, February 3, the same weekend Queensland’s top players were in Brisbane for a State of Origin bonding camp.
He was given a leave pass by Maroons coach Billy Slater to attend his own party, where he sported a $2300 Gucci shirt, and some of his potential future Queensland teammates made an impromptu appearance at the soiree.
A few days later, the Broncos announced they had signed Mam to a bumper five-year contract extension keeping him at Red Hill until at least 2029.
Rival clubs that were chasing Mam’s signature reckon the deal is worth more than $1 million-a-season – a figure that has been refuted by Brisbane’s top brass.
That contract, conservatively worth more than $4 million, is now under threat following the incident that has rocked numerous lives and left Mam fighting for his NRL future.
In the eight months since that announcement, Mam has “lost his way”, according to Donaghy.
And it started with the racism saga that triggered a firestorm during the NRL’s inaugural Las Vegas venture in March.
Roosters prop Spencer Leniu received an eight-match suspension from the NRL judiciary after calling Mam a “monkey” during the historic United States season-opener.
Mam made an official on-field complaint about the slur which was followed by an ugly hotel corridor confrontation between Roosters and Broncos players later that night.
He returned to Australia to a barrage of controversy as the incident divided opinions and clubs, with Mam declining Leniu’s offer to apologise face-to-face.
Some close to Mam believe the proud Indigenous man didn’t envisage the storm the incident would create.
He received influential support from figures like South Sydney superstar Latrell Mitchell but was also attacked by online trolls and Indigenous icon Anthony Mundine. It was a lot for a 21-year-old to digest.
Mam was shielded from the media for six weeks after Vegas before admitting the incident took a toll but he had no regrets about how he handled it.
“I just stuck to what my beliefs are and how I was brought up as a strong cultural man,” Mam said at the time.
“If there’s anything I’m proud of, it’s my culture and that’s what I’m going to stick up for. It’s my identity and that’s the reason why I am here.
“It was definitely a huge thing for other players to come out on behalf of me and reach out to me. It lifted me up and lifted my spirits up.”
THE BALI TRIP
While Mam claimed to have moved on from the saga, it may have taken a larger toll than he realised.
He struggled for consistency in an ever-changing spine due to constant injuries to key Broncos players Adam Reynolds and Reece Walsh and his form never reached the heights of 2023, scoring nine tries compared to 18 last year.
The Broncos crashed from beaten grand finalists to 12th, culminating in the departure of coach Kevin Walters.
An ankle injury which required surgery brought a premature end to Mam’s 2024 season with a month to go.
After recovering from surgery, Mam travelled to Bali for a holiday with Walsh which wasn’t without incident.
The NRL Integrity Unit received a complaint from a disgruntled parent after their son’s phone was damaged at a Bali nightclub. Mam paid for a new phone for the third party.
Days later, Mam was photographed in a Bali hospital holding two drinks as Walsh lay on a bed being tended to for a graze on his back sustained in a surfing accident.
Mam returned from Bali in time for Brisbane’s presentation ceremony a fortnight ago.
This time he wore pants, but removed the sleeves from his shirt and jacket.
A week later he was being removed from the wreckage of a Ford Ranger utility with his career on the line.
Originally published as NRL 2024: Ezra Mam’s fall from Brisbane Broncos grand final hero to rehabilitation clinic following the Las Vegas racism scandal
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