Broncos playmaker Ezra Mam plans to make Brisbane “proud” of him in Sunday night’s NRL grand final against Melbourne as he seeks redemption for his off-field mistakes and the club’s loss in the 2023 decider.
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Having feared his season was over after tearing his hamstring in Brisbane’s 22-2 loss to Melbourne early last month, Mam recovered to come off the bench in the Broncos’ 16-14 weekend preliminary final win over Penrith.
Mam and the Broncos now get the chance to bury the demons of the grand final from two years ago when they led the Panthers 24-8 with less than 20 minutes remaining only to lose 26-24.
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Had the Broncos tasted victory, there is little doubt Mam would have won the Clive Churchill Medal – awarded to the man of the match – for his three-try performance.
“It was pretty tough,” he said.
“That year went pretty smooth for the boys, so it was heartbreaking, but … hopefully this year we learn from that.
“We know that this year we’re just going to have to play the full 80 minutes or however long the game may be.”
Mam also knows he is fortunate to be playing in the grand final for more reasons that just his recent injury.
He feared the club would sack him after his infamous car crash in October last year.
Driving with cocaine in his system and without a licence, Mam’s car collided head-on with an Uber vehicle, with the crash injuring the other driver and two passengers, one who was a young girl.
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Man was disqualified from driving for six months and fined $850. He was also suspended by the NRL until round 10 of the 2025 season and fined $120,000 jointly by the NRL and Broncos.
“For myself, it’s just about growing, and I’ve grown a lot over the past year and continue working to mature over time,” he said.
“Knowing that I let people down, trying to get their trust back and doing all that stuff was pretty tough, but … I’m just looking forward to the next week.”
Mam has often been jeered by rival fans since his return and knows he could again be targeted by Melbourne fans on Sunday night at Accor Stadium.
“I’ve been pretty fine with it. I can’t really control what other people think, so I’m just worried about doing my role for the team and making Brisbane proud,” he said.
And if that role is again as a super sub, that’s also fine with Mam, who is just grateful to have been recalled to the team by Broncos coach Michael Maguire.
“Whatever ‘Madge’ (Maguire) wants, (whether it’s) me on the field or off the bench, I’m happy to do my job whatever it is,” the 22-year-old five-eigth said.
“It was pretty good coming on pretty fresh when everyone was pretty tired on the weekend (in the preliminary final).
“We’ll see what the plan is, and we’ll go from there.”
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