Brisbane Broncos chief executive Dave Donaghy has not ruled out sacking star playmaker Ezra Mam after the troubled star reportedly failed a roadside drug test after being involved in a head-on car crash on Friday.
Mam was involved in the alleged incident in the northern Brisbane suburb of Bardon just hours before the Australian Kangaroos faced Tonga in the Pacific Championship.
The 21-year-old was reportedly moving house when the Ford Ranger he was driving allegedly collided with an Uber car driven by a mother whose daughter was a passenger.
No one was seriously injured in the incident.
Queensland Police carried out roadside drug and alcohol tests, and Mam allegedly failed the drug test but returned a negative result for alcohol.
Police and the NRL Integrity Unit are now investigating the incident and are awaiting the results of a secondary drug test, which could take weeks to arrive.
Donaghy said the club was working with police and the NRL and would not make any decision on Mam’s $4 million contract until the facts were clear.
Ezra Mam was allegedly behind the wheel of a ute that crashed into an Uber in the inner-city suburb of Bardon in Brisbane on Friday (Mam is pictured on the ground just after the collision).
A mother and daughter (pictured) were treated by paramedics at the scene of Mam’s accident, but no one was seriously injured.
“It would be remiss of me to get too far ahead of myself at this point.” said on the radio station 4BC Brisbane.
‘We have not had an in-depth internal discussion. I think, first of all, we don’t have all the complete facts. We want to make sure we have all the information so we can make the right decision for us.
“But certainly, from the club’s perspective, we are very disappointed to find ourselves in a position like this.
‘We are a community club that puts the community at the center of what we do.
“For us to have these kinds of discussions in the off-season instead of talking about preparation, I guess, or preparation leading up to next season is really disappointing. “That point has certainly already been made.
Queensland Police and the NRL Integrity Unit are investigating the alleged incident involving the Broncos’ star playmaker (Mam pictured playing this year)
It is the second off-field incident involving the Broncos playmaker this year, after he was involved in an altercation with a fan while on holiday in Bali with teammate Reece Walsh.
The Broncos duo were reportedly asked for a selfie at a Bali nightclub and the fan’s phone broke during the interaction. Mom and Walsh replaced the broken phone with a new one.
Regardless of the outcome of the investigation, Donaghy said the two scandals had to be a wake-up call for young players on the Broncos team.
‘Ezra is a young man, he is 21 years old. “They make mistakes, but unfortunately in this industry you need to grow quickly,” he said.
‘It’s the price of entry, it’s a very privileged role. So it will be a process to follow and we will do it. I am important, as we all are at the club, in terms of personal responsibility and accountability.
“I’ve seen comments before about the moment of a line in the sand, I think for this group it is a moment of maturity.”
Mam faces a fine, possible suspension or termination of his $4 million contract depending on the outcome of the investigation.
The Broncos have been maligned for giving players too much freedom in recent years.
Despite reaching the 2023 NRL grand final, where Mam scored three tries in a losing cause, Brisbane crashed out of the finals this season and coach Kevin Walters was sacked.
Donaghy admitted there were cultural issues that needed to be addressed by incoming coach Michael McGuire and said the coach would also appoint a general manager of football to help him set the new standards.
“We have some cultural challenges, I’m not going to shy away from them,” he said.
‘Going back to leadership, it is an area that we have highlighted and identified that we really need to invest in because it will help support and drive leadership.
‘Michael is very clear about the standards he intends to expect from the group.
‘We have been very intentional about investing in our leadership capabilities and our culture within the football program.
‘We’ve been disappointed throughout the year we’re in, but we’re certainly clear that we want our program to be performance-based, we don’t want it to be lifestyle-based.
“And we know that’s going to take a lot of hard work. The reality is, we may not fix it overnight.”