NRL 2024: It’s time for Ezra Mam to take the reins at halfback for the Broncos | The Tackle
He has been identified as Adam Reynolds’ long-term successor by the man himself. It’s time for Kevin Walters to pull the trigger and select Ezra Mam at halfback.
Fatima Kdouh reveals her likes and dislikes from round 18.
ROUND 18 DISLIKES
MAM IS BRISBANE’S 007
It’s time for Ezra Mam to take the reins at halfback for Brisbane.
After all, there are designs at Red Hill for Mam to be the long term successor to injured no.7 Adam Reynolds - who isn’t due back until round 22.
And now that Jock Madden (hamstring) has gone down, there’s little reason for coach Kevin Walters not to pull the trigger this week against the Dragons.
Mam has been down on form, like most of his Broncos teammates, but played one his best games of year against Penrith, running the ball with intent and was solid in defensive. It’s time for Walters to harness that confidence and give Mam the keys to steer the side around against a Dragons outfit depleted of its Origin stars.
Mam recently agreed to a five-year extension worth in excess of $4 million, and the time is now for the 23-year old to deliver on the price tag.
The move allows for Tristan Sailor, or even Billy Walters, to partner Mam in the no.6 jumper.
Having the attacking threat of Sailor and Mam in the halves gives the Broncos the best shot of breaking the side’s five-game losing streak against the Dragons this weekend.
MANLY’S TURBO PROBLEM
This is the sobering reality for Manly, the club can’t win a title with superstar Tom Trbojevic stuck out at centre.
Even four-time premiership winner Cooper Cronk thinks as much.
“If Manly want a genuine chance of winning a trophy at some stage, Turbo has got to be the fullback,” Cronk said on Fox League.
“If they want to take down the big teams, he has to be at fullback.”
After being sidelined since round 10 with a hamstring injury, Trbojevic returned in the unfamiliar position centre.
It’s fair to say his return was mostly underwhelming despite the fan fare over him getting through unscathed.
Trbojevic can be one of the most damaging players in the NRL at his best but at centre his impact, and involvement, was minimal in Manly’s 21-20 win over the Cowboys.
Manly can’t afford to have its best player so far from the action. Trbojevic needs his hands on the ball and Manly needs his spine combination with halfback Daly Cherry-Evans if they are ever going to be a genuine threat.
The move to centre was seen as one that could help prolong his injury-prone career and give coach Anthony Seibold a chance to plan for life after Trbojevic, with the likes of Tolutau Kola and Lehi Hopoate waiting to deputise in the no. 1 jumper.
Sure, Trbojevic will get better with match fitness but Manly has only ever looked like a title threat when Trbojevic has been at the peak of his powers, at fullback.
Trbojevic’s return would have hardly left NSW Blues coach Michael Maguire filled with confidence either.
With Latrell Mitchell (foot) out of the Origin decider, Trbojevic seemed like the perfect replacement.
He’s excelled in the Origin arena at centre before but given his lack of match fitness, picking the Manly star is a huge gamble. Then there’s the bigger question of whether Trbojevic will be up to the task in defence.
To give the Blues the best chance of lifting the shield, Madge must stay true to the mantra of picking players on form, and resist the urge to go with Trbojevic’s star power.
SALMON STINK
Talk about rubbing salt into the wound of the Warriors’ golden point loss 13-12 against Canterbury.
The Match Review Committee has whacked Canterbury’s Jaeman Salmon with a ban of up to three weeks after he was charged with grade two dangerous contact on Warriors playmaker Te Maire Martin.
Salmon took out Martin after he passed the ball as the Warriors were setting up for a field goal attempt with only six minutes left on the clock, and the score tied at 12-all.
The contact was not only late but was so heavy both players were left reeling and Salmon even left the field with a serious facial injury.
Yet, there was no intervention from either referee Chris Butler or the bunker.
If the MRC can find that the contact was not only foul play but it warranted at least two weeks on the sidelines, surely the match officials should have awarded the Warriors a penalty at the time.
The NRL insists referees are never told to put away the whistle when scores are tight or when the result of a match hangs in the balance.
But Butler did put away the whistle, and worse still, the bunker refused to act.
The Warriors should not only have received a penalty but Salmon should have been sent to the bin.
NRL fans cry foul when a referee is perceived to have an influence on the outcome of the game.
But there is the danger of expecting referees to just let the game flow and put the whistle away, and the late hit by Salmon is exactly it.
The Warriors should have been awarded a penalty from right in front, which would have given them the lead with six minutes left on the clock.
If the Warriors had gone on to win, it would not have been Butler’s whistle that determined the result but the lack of discipline shown from Salmon.
EELS ROOKIES EXPOSES WOES
It says a lot about the mental state of a football team when a rookie forward can outshine a pack led by former representative players.
Charlie Guymer did exactly that in Parramatta’s disappointing loss to the Rabbitohs.
“He embarrassed some of their high profile forwards, their forwards were poor. Geez he had a good debut. He looks tough, in attack and defensively, he just went that hard,” League Immortal Andrew Johns said on Channel 9.
Guymer punched out 92 metres in his 45 minute stint but it was his passion, toughness and tenacity that stood out, something that has abandoned the Eels pack in 2024.
The frustration seeping from the Eels playing group, particularly from senior players like Mitchell Moses and Clint Gutherson, at the moment is palpable.
Even the best run football clubs can’t escape the flow-on effect of off-field instability, which won’t be resolved at the Eels until a head coach is finally announced.
COWBOYS CRUMBLE
The Cowboys weren’t undone by failed field goal-attempts in Saturday’s 21-20 loss to Manly but by the side’s inability to score points when it mattered.
North Queensland’s inability to convert possession, and territory, into points is a worry for coach Todd Payten.
The side has a bye in round 19 but then games against the Canterbury, Cronulla, Tigers and Brisbane. All are at home except for a trip to Leichhardt Oval, where the Tigers have been plucky, knocking off both the Sharks and Titans.
If the Cowboys can’t find the polish in attack, Payten’s men have a real chance of missing the finals. For a roster boasting six Origin stars, plus the likes of Jason Taumalolo and Scott Drinkwater, missing the top eight is not good enough.
The Cowboys had 66 per cent of the territory against the Sea Eagles and were tackled 22 times in the opposition but the lack of polish in attack, which included everything from handling errors to poor pass selection, meant Payten’s side walked away without the crucial two competition points.
ROUND 18 LIKES
CRICHTON CREAM OF CROP
It’s an accolade normally reserved for halfbacks and superstar fullbacks but Canterbury skipper and centre Stephen Crichton has been the most influential player in 2024.
At the very least Crichton is the best buy of 2024, and right now his $3 million price tag is looking like a bargain.
Many questioned the leadership qualities of the 23-year old when he was handed the captaincy but Crichton has been a major driving force in turning around the club’s on-field fortunes.
Winning starts off the field with culture. Canterbury had a culture of losing before Crichton’s arrival but his competitive nature and desire to win is clearly rubbing off on his teammates.
On Saturday, Crichton’s premiership-winning class was on full display. He came up with a tap on in the lead-up to a Jacob Kiraz try in the first half and then a huge defensive play in the second, where he manhandled Roger Tuivasa-Sheck over the sideline with 10 minutes to go and scored levelled 12-all.
TIGERS TUMBLE
It was the hilarious moment that brutal NRL fans could not help but compare to the tale that is the Wests Tigers in 2024.
Both Tigers mascots got off to a false start while leading the team out onto the Leichhardt Oval, with one slipping over and the other crashing straight into a Fox League cameraman.
Fans couldn’t resist declaring it an omen for what was to come, as the Tigers were comfortably beaten by Melbourne on Saturday night.
“Still less errors than the NRL team,” Banjo said on X (formerly Twitter).
Others pulled no punches.
“Tigers should just run out to the Benny Hill theme song,” one fan suggested.
The social media onslaught just went on.
“The perfect analogy for the Tigers season so far,” Drew said.
Some Tigers fans even wanted the club to sign up the mascot for ‘giving 110 per cent and running through anything’.
BRAVE WARRIORS
Remember the name Leka Halasima.
The Warriors rookie had a NRL debut to remember, turning Canterbury’s Bailey Hayward into a speed hump on his first ever carry.
The backrower was forced to play at centre after the Warriors were left with a makeshift back five when wingers Dallin Watene-Zelezniak and Marcelo Montoya, and fullback Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad left the field injured.
Leka Halasima's first run in the NRL #UpTheWahspic.twitter.com/xjeAAQZQS2
— The Niche Cache (@thenichecache) July 6, 2024
None of it seemed to faze Halasima, who not only almost crossed the line on the back of a powerful surge but came up with a try-saving tackle on Blake Wilson.
Just 18-years old, Halasima is only one of the many exciting Warriors rookies in Andrew Webster’s pipeline of talent. With Nicoll-Klokstad suffering a calf injury, livewire Taine Tuaupiki should get a call-up for the club’s next fixture against Canberra.
MAHONEY MADNESS
Reed Mahoney made 56 tackles in Canterbury’s golden point win against the Warriors but it should have been only 55.
The Canterbury hooker was caught napping at the ruck, losing possession to Freddy Lussick with only eight minutes to go and the scores tied 12-all.
Talk about coach killers.
All ended well for the feisty no.9 after he produced one of the biggest plays in the match.
Mahoney managed to get his fingertips on a field goal attempt by Te Maire Martin, helping to deflect the ball away from the posts.
ROOSTERS RUMBLE
Roosters power brokers must do everything in their power to ensure Sam Walker is locked in long term before he hits the open market on November 1.
If not a long line of cashed up rivals will be waiting to swoop and already the Broncos have been linked to the halfback.
The club recruited depth into the halves stocks signing Chad Townsend for 2025 and the attention must turn to retaining Walker, who can be as influential to the Roosters as Nathan Cleary is to Penrith.
Walker put on a kicking masterclass in the Tricolours’ 42-12 against St George Illawarra, setting up two tries with the boot.
He wasn’t the only one to stand-up in the Tricolours’ onslaught on the Dragons which also doubled as Jared Waerea-Hargreaves’s 307th game for the club, making him the most capped Rooster ever.
Every forward on the field rose to the occasion to match the emotion of Waerea-Hargreaves, as he pleaded with the referee not to sin bin him for a high shot on Max Feagai,
Blues forward Spencer Leniu ran the ball with such venom cheers rumbled through Allianz Stadium every time he ran from the back fence.
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