Banned NRL star Ezra Mam made a surprise appearance at Red Hill on Tuesday, a week after he was fined $120,000 by the NRL and the Brisbane Broncos.
Mam had pleaded guilty to two counts of dangerous driving after being involved in a crash in Bardon on October 18.
The soccer star admitted to driving without a license and with a prohibited substance present in his blood.
Mam, who allegedly failed a roadside drug test, appeared in court on the charges and was fined $850 by a Brisbane magistrate and banned from driving for six months, a sentence that caused a stir among many in social networks and the football community in general for their indulgence.
After the sanctions were handed down, the NRL and the Broncos also concluded their investigation into the matter, with the club and league coming down heavily on Mam and handing him a nine-month suspension. The NRL fined him $30,000 and his club deducted $90,000.
Mam will also undergo various training programs and programmes, including a “safer driving training programme” as part of her punishment.
Ezra Mam unexpectedly returned to Brisbane training on Tuesday after being handed a six-month driving ban.
It came after the soccer star pleaded guilty to two counts of dangerous driving after being involved in a crash in Brisbane on October 18.
Mam is not expected to return until round 10 of the 2025 season, but looked fit when he returned to pre-season training with his teammates at Red Hill.
Mam, who cannot play until Brisbane’s Round 10 clash against the Rabbitohs, returned to the training ground looking fit and healthy as he joined his teammates in pre-season training on Tuesday.
The playmaker was seen working on a fitness workout alongside new signing Ben Hunt at the Clive Berghofer Centre.
Mam’s last game for the Broncos was against the Titans in Round 22, with the Brisbane team suffering a 46-18 defeat on 3 August.
He had played in 19 of the Broncos’ league matches up to that point, scoring nine tries.
After her court hearing, Mum said: ‘To the people involved in the accident, I am so sorry. This incident is not a reflection of who I want to be and what is expected of me as a role model.
‘To the NRL, the Brisbane Broncos, the fans, my family, I’m sorry. “I promise to work to be a better person.”
A mother and her four-year-old daughter were traveling as passengers in the Uber when the incident occurred.
Mam had checked into a rehabilitation center after the incident, but has kept a low profile since the October 18 incident.
Also attending Tuesday’s session was new signing and returning star Ben Hunt, who rejoined the club earlier this summer.
Mom (right) was also seen talking to Adam Reynolds (left) during the session, as the group performed various fitness exercises.
The rider’s $850 fine and six-month driving ban, handed down by a Brisbane magistrate, has been described as a “slap on the wrist” by some in the NRL community.
He had also accepted a job as a laborer on a construction site while the judicial process was taking place.
Some had criticized Mam’s initial sentencing by the Brisbane Magistrates Court as a “slap on the wrist”.
Others, meanwhile, believed his nine-match ban from the AFL wasn’t “enough” either.
‘It’s still not enough! What happens to the poor victim? “I bet he’s in a world of pain after the accident, let alone struggling financially,” said one X user.
“It makes a mockery of the whole situation.”
While speculation arose over the 21-year-old’s future at the club following the incident, new football boss Michael Maguire appeared to dismiss claims that Mam’s five-year, $4 million contract would be torn up. .
Meanwhile, Hunt has begun his second spell at the club and also looked slim while taking part in the training session.
Many Brisbane fans have been excited about her return to the club where she made her NRL debut in 2009, with the hooker jumping ship to St George Illawarra for six years before the Rockhampton-born star returned to Queensland.