Robert Craddock: The only cure to Ezra Mam boos

There can be one thing worse than a heavy penalty and that’s a light one. But if Ezra Mam is to shake the murky narrative trailing his every move, the Broncos must throw him into the fire.

Ezra Mam needs to rip the bandaid off.

The booing of Ezra Mam at Suncorp Stadium has proved there’s one thing more chastening than a heavy ban - it’s a ban some punters reckon is too light.

Mam is eligible to return for the Broncos against South Sydney after a nine week suspension for driving with a drug in his system and driving without a licence in a car crash last year in which three people were injured.

Fans are split on whether he should be rushed back into a Broncos team that clearly needs him.

In a poll of around 2000 fans on this website, 54 per cent say they would not choose Mam against the Rabbitohs, 46 per cent would toss him straight in.

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It is that sort of issue. Some angry fans claim the ban was not long enough. Others feel he has served his time. Some, like Cameron Smith, would not play him simply because he would be short of match practice.

The loud boos for Mam at Suncorp Stadium on Sunday when his face was shown on the big screen had barely subsided when my phone lit up with messages from several league fans questioning who was booing Mam – was it just visitors from rival clubs or where there Broncos fans as well?

One of the messages said “the lightness of Mam’s ban had worked against him.’’

The correspondence has been relentless since a Brisbane Magistrate fined Mam just $850, less than he might get for making a high tackle.

That started a theme that Mam had gotten off lightly, one echoed by a series of politicians including Attorney-General Deb Frecklington who said the penalty did not pass the pub test.

Since then, however, a sterner series of punishments have been locked in and Mam has copped $120,000 in fines from the Broncos and the NRL as well as the nine week ban.

That placated some people but the fact that 54 per cent of fans believe he should not play this weekend confirms that others are not happy.

A man never decides his own punishment and Mam can press ahead in the knowledge the court which will have the final say on his standing in the game is the court of public opinion.

It seems a formality there will be some negative crowd reaction, particularly when he is playing interstate, though he can be encouraged by the fact that sports history is full of players who stuffed up off the field but found peace and a measure of forgiveness by shining on the field.

The Broncos have not declared whether they will play him this weekend but the smart move may be to toss him in because the sooner he jumps into the fire after the most tumultuous episode of his life the sooner he can move out the other side.