NRL 2023: Ezra Mam declares he’s staying at Brisbane Broncos, poised to sign $3m extension
Dally M five-eighth of the year and Broncos grand final star Ezra Mam is poised to ink a $3m mega extension, committing to be part of a new generation of greatness at the club.
NRL
Don't miss out on the headlines from NRL. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Electric Ezra Mam has declared he is staying at the Broncos with the playmaking young gun poised to ink a mega extension worth up to $3 million.
Breaking his silence on his future, Brisbane’s grand-final star says he has no intention of quitting the club and will emulate the loyalty of Payne Haas and Pat Carrigan in a huge retention coup for the Broncos.
The boom five-eighth produced the game of his life last Sunday night, scoring an 11-minute hat-trick in Brisbane’s heartbreaking 26-24 grand-final loss to the Panthers at Sydney’s Accor Stadium.
Mam became the sixth player in rugby league history to score three tries in a grand final and just the second Bronco to achieve the feat after Steve Renouf’s treble to sink Cronulla 26-8 in the 1997 Super League grand final.
Mam’s sizzling performance almost saw him win the Clive Churchill Medal and put him in the shopfront window for NRL rivals with a display that triggered a potential bidding war for the classy 20-year-old.
Mam is currently contracted to Brisbane until the end of next season and the Ipswich sensation has the ability to test his value on the open market when he becomes a free agent from November 1.
But the quick-stepping pivot has uttered the words every Brisbane fan wanted to hear, insisting he has no interest in a big-money bidding war as he closes in on a massive Broncos upgrade.
Haas and Carrigan inked three and five-year upgrades respectively earlier this season and Mam revealed he is buying into Brisbane’s player pact to stick together to break the club’s 18-year premiership drought next season.
“That’s my aim, to stay here at the Broncos,” Mam said as the dust settles on Brisbane’s agonising grand-final defeat.
“I want to start another generation here.
“It (signing a new deal) would definitely be a great opportunity to jump on the bandwagon here with the other boys and make the Broncos great again.
“Seeing Payne re-sign and all the other boys stay here, it’s a huge factor for myself.
“Hopefully we can get that (new) deal done soon.
“I’ll be here for a long time.”
This masthead can reveal the Broncos have tabled a new contract offer to Mam’s management.
The parties are still in negotiations, but the Broncos would prefer a longer-term deal, in the range of three to five years, to ensure Mam is under lock and key at Red Hill until at least the end of 2027 and possibly longer.
Mam, who only made his NRL debut 17 months ago, is on around $250,000 this season, but he is due for a significant upgrade after a superb 2023 campaign that saw him score 18 tries from 25 games.
A four-year deal would start at an estimated $750,000 a season, with incremental increases in line with the NRL salary cap pushing Mam towards the $900,000 mark.
The Indigenous playmaker could earn more elsewhere, but Mam is prepared to make a financial sacrifice to ensure the Broncos retain spinal members Reece Walsh and Adam Reynolds and construct a title-winning squad.
“I love the Broncos because of the culture and the professionalism of the club,” said Mam, who has played 38 NRL games.
“It’s a great bond we have here and it’s important we keep this team together.
“Keeping that bond means a lot to me and I want to be part of keeping the bond here for a long time.”
A shattered Mam shed tears in the moments after Brisbane’s grand-final collapse and there are fears the Broncos’ slew of emerging stars could carry scar tissue from botching a 24-8 lead against Penrith into next season.
But a week on from Brisbane’s incomprehensible free fall, Mam is adamant Broncos players will channel the pain into premiership redemption in 2024.
“I think this loss will make us stronger and a better team,” he said.
“We saw it a few years ago where Penrith lost the grand final (in 2020) and they have gone on to win three premierships.
“We can take a lot out of this year and hopefully we can kick on and win it next year and the next year and the next year after that.
“It will be good to see where we are at.
“We will enjoy our break, let the loss hurt, then get back to pre-season and work hard.”
Entering this season, the jury was out on Mam at five-eighth after he was defensively exposed at the back end of the 2022 campaign.
But the Queensland Origin hopeful muscled-up in defence this season and said he is consistently driven by the knowledge club greats such as Darren Lockyer and Wally Lewis have donned the No.6 jumper.
“Some special players before me have played in the No.6 jersey and made it great,” he said.
“I always remind myself of the history of the jumper and this club.
“’Kevvie’ (coach Kevin Walters) said to me in pre-season I had to play well and if I lose the jumper, it’s on me … if I play well, then I will keep it.
“He definitely motivated me to get better and play good footy.
“It’s now on me to enjoy the break and come back to pre-season ready to go next year.”
HAAS URGES EZRA TO STAY AS KEVVIE PROMISES PREMIERSHIPS WILL COME
Superstar prop Payne Haas has appealed for boom five-eighth Ezra Mam not to walk out on Brisbane as coach Kevin Walters boldly declared several titles are coming to the Broncos.
The Broncos are facing a potential $1 million bidding war for Mam in the wake of the young gun’s stunning three-try performance in Brisbane’s heartbreaking 26-24 grand-final loss to Penrith last Sunday night.
Off-contract at the end of next season, Mam becomes a free agent on November 1, giving the Broncos a 25-day headstart to secure the 20-year-old to an extended deal before rival NRL clubs come knocking.
An NRL debutant just 17 months ago, Mam is on around $250,000 this season and his market value has soared beyond the $700,000 mark in the wake of his brilliant grand-final display against the Panthers.
Mam’s sensational hat-trick in the decider has only amplified salary-cap pressure on the Broncos, who are moving quickly to extend the classy pivot – just as they did with Haas eight weeks ago.
In August, Haas inked a $3.5 million extension to remain at Brisbane until the end of 2026, opting against going to free agency after his manager initially flagged plans to test the market from November 1.
Haas followed star lock Pat Carrigan’s lead by staying loyal and Brisbane’s newly-crowned Paul Morgan Medallist urged Mam to keep the faith in the Broncos’ quest to snap an 18-year title drought.
“I hope he stays loyal,” Haas said.
“It would be great to keep a player like Ezra.
“He has been at the club since a young age, around 15, so I really hope we can keep him.”
Haas, who equalled the legendary Allan Langer with his fifth Paul Morgan Medal on Thursday night, said he was blown away by Mam’s bravery this season after the rookie struggled in defence at the back end of his maiden 2022 campaign.
The Ipswich whiz-kid finished with 18 tries from 25 games this season, prompting Haas to proclaim Mam can be one of the NRL’s most dominant playmakers in the years to come.
“His defence was great for us this season,” Haas said of Mam.
“Ezra is tenacious, he goes hard and he is aggressive.
“You don’t often see that from halves, so he is a different type of half and I feel like he can be one of the best halves in the comp.”
Walters believes Brisbane’s premiership window is open for the next half-a-decade with the likes of Haas, Carrigan, Reece Walsh and Mam capable of delivering not just one, but a number of titles in a Red Hill reign.
“I feel we are in a really strong position to be a dominant club for the next four to five years,” Walters said.
“I was really proud of the team’s work this year to get to the grand final. I know we lost (in the grand final) but we won over the season, so that’s how I’m looking at it.
“The first 15 minutes after halftime, the coaching box was cooking, we were so thrilled with what the boys could put together in the first 60 minutes.
“If we can play at that level for 80 minutes, I’m very confident in the next five years that these boys will get a lot of good things happening and Brisbane will get a lot of good things happening as well.
“The commitment of our group is outstanding. I’m excited about what is going to be happening at our club over the next four or five years.”
Mam said his hat-trick heroics haven’t quite dulled the pain of Brisbane blowing a 24-8 lead in the greatest grand-final collapse in NRL history.
“It still hurts,” he said.
“It (his hat-trick) all happened very fast, it was in the space of 11 minutes, so it was pretty crazy.
“It caught me by surprise, I was pretty proud of the way I played but it would have been nice to finish off with a premiership.
“We can take heaps of positives out of it. We didn’t get the result we wanted, but we took a lot of lessons out of last year and came back and made the grand final.
“Obviously we didn’t win it, but we can learn from losing a grand final and go back and win it next year.”
More Coverage
Originally published as NRL 2023: Ezra Mam declares he’s staying at Brisbane Broncos, poised to sign $3m extension
Join the conversation
Broncos icon rejects Maguire peace offer
Broncos legend Gorden Tallis has reportedly given new coach Michael Maguire a brutal response during an encounter.
Read more
Cleary makes revelation over Super League switch rumours
Penrith champion Nathan Cleary has been spotted at the Super League grand final with Matildas star and girlfriend Mary Fowler, with the halfback addressing rumours of a shock switch to the UK to be closer to her.
Read more