According to reports, Ezra Mam, a five-eighth star for the Brisbane Broncos, will not be deregistered by the NRL. He awaits punishment for an off-field event for which he may receive up to 14 years in prison.
Mam, who was involved in a car accident over two weeks ago, is entitled to the presumption of innocence. He has not been detained or charged. However, because he was allegedly driving without a licence and failed a roadside drug test, he could face harsh punishment.
According to The Courier-Mail, it is highly improbable that the NRL will deregister Ezra Mam. This would result in the termination of the Brisbane Broncos star’s $4 million, five-year contract.
The NRL has deregistered a number of players in recent years, notably St George Illawarra Dragons star Talatau Amone, Matthew Lodge for two years, Jayden Okunbor, and Corey Harawira-Naera in 2020.
After being charged by police for an incident in 2022, Amone was sentenced to two years in prison and ordered to complete 300 hours of community service, which caused him to miss the whole 2024 NRL season.
Although Mam has not yet been charged by the police, it is believed that he might be suspended for up to 12 weeks, which would mean the Broncos won’t have him on the squad for at least the first two months of the upcoming campaign.
More information has surfaced since the incident, which occurred in the west of Brisbane and resulted in the hospitalisation of a woman and her four-year-old daughter.
Last week, new Broncos coach Michael Maguire stated, “I’ve been in the game for a long time and seen many players go through many different situations.”
“Throughout your life, you pick up a lot of knowledge. I don’t mean to minimise the situation. In order to understand how he got to that point, we must examine it.
“Mistakes are inevitable, but people must also accept responsibility for them. The important thing is that. If Ezra is responsible for his current situation, then his future actions will be crucial.
He’s receiving assistance. I’ll spend some time with him when he resolves it and evaluate how things are going.