- NRL nine-week ban leaks
- Mom has five days to respond to the league
NRL fans have slammed the NRL as cowardly and week over the leaked nine-week ban set to be imposed on Brisbane Broncos star Ezra Mam after he pleaded guilty to taking a cocktail of drugs. when he collided with another car and seriously injured a four. -year-old girl.
Mam received a breach notice from the NRL on Monday for bringing both the game and the Broncos into disrepute, following his high-profile driving charges in October.
Mam was handed a six-month driving ban and fined $850 after pleading guilty to driving with drugs in his system and without a licence, following a head-on collision with an Uber.
A four-year-old girl was hospitalized with a hip fracture as a result of the accident.
The NRL issued an infringement notice but withheld details of further sanctions pending Mam’s response.
However, it has been leaked that the NRL intends to impose a nine-match suspension, a punishment many feel is not good enough.
Mam will not be able to play in front of Broncos fans again until at least round 10 next year after his nine-game NRL suspension was leaked.
The Broncos playmaker, pictured in Bali earlier this year, has five days to respond to the NRL.
‘It’s very difficult to be an nrl fan. Ezra Mam gets away with a fine for almost killing someone… Ashamed… I won’t see him again. I’m done,” wrote one fan.
‘Ezra Mam’s nine-week ban from the NRL is not severe enough for drugged driving and sending a 4-year-old to hospital with a broken hip without a licence. IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN 12 TO 15 WEEKS MINIMUM,” veteran journalist Buzz Rothfield posted in X.
The NRL’s stance has also been compared to the ban imposed on Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu, who received eight games for allegedly calling Mum a racial slur during their game in Las Vegas to open the 2024 season.
“Spencer Leniu suspended 8 games for insults”. Ezra Mam faces nine weeks in prison for driving without a license while under drugs and causing an accident. His license has been suspended 3 times. Seriously, the NRL is an absolute joke if it’s only 9 weeks old,” raged one X fan.
‘Kids glove treatment from @andrewabdo and the NRL. “It’s a shame,” posted another.
‘Ezra Mam admits a 4-year-old boy to the hospital after a drug binge. “He is a disgrace to the NRL and his team and should be banned for life,” said another.
Following a court ruling and a perceived lenient NRL sanction, others are calling on NRL crowds and even opposition players to take the law into their own hands.
“I hope all the forwards go ahead and screw Ezra Mam from round 10. If he doesn’t get proper off-field punishment then all the players with kids should attack him,” suggested one committed NRL supporter.
‘Let’s let people talk about this. Every time Ezra Mam comes around. In the play, the audience should boo him fiercely. Nothing personal, definitely nothing racist. Just boo him so he, his team and the NRL know he’s not welcome,” posted another.
Football fans have taken to social media to complain about what they see as an embarrassingly soft suspension for Mam.
Fans noticed that Spencer Leniu (pictured far right) was banned for eight weeks after he allegedly racially abused the Broncos playmaker in the first round this season.
The NRL will not allow Mam to serve part of his suspension in the pre-season All-Stars clash, meaning the entire suspension must be served with Brisbane.
Players can usually request that representative games be counted toward bans, including the preseason All-Stars game.
Both Latrell Mitchell and Josh Addo-Carr currently have requests from the NRL to do just that, as a result of their current bans relating to off-field matters.
But it is understood that the game will not be able to count as a sanction, since the five-eighth had never appeared in the representative match before.
It means if he accepts the ban, Mum won’t be able to return for Brisbane’s Magic Round clash against Penrith.
Instead, he will have to wait another week to return against South Sydney in Round 10 on May 9 at Accor Stadium.
Mom has five days to respond to the notice of default.