Sydney Roosters enforcer Spencer Leniu has been accused of clashing with Brisbane players at a team hotel just hours after being slapped with a formal complaint over a racial slur against Broncos halfback Ezra Mam.
While the Roosters prevailed 20-10 in their historic match against the Broncos in Las Vegas on Sunday AEDT, the result was marred by the alleged insult, which came after players from both sides had a heated confrontation on the field.
“Ezra has made a formal complaint,” referee Adam Gee told the Roosters after the fight. “He is racial in nature against Spencer. I haven’t heard it. The incident is reported and will be addressed later. That’s where he is.’
In the audio of the match broadcast, Mom is heard telling referee Gee, “He called me a monkey.” Another Broncos player also says: “he called him a monkey.”
Gee then asked Mom if she wanted to file a formal complaint, to which Mom responded, “Yes, I do.”
Brisbane Broncos five-eighth Ezra Mam makes a formal complaint over a racial slur at referee Adam Gee during their clash with the Sydney Roosters.
Broncos players, led by center Kotoni Staggs, were quick to defend Mam following Roosters player Spencer Leniu’s alleged comment.
It has now been reported that Leniu collided again with Broncos players in a hallway of the Las Vegas hotel where both teams were staying.
He Sydney Morning Herald has revealed that both teams confirmed the altercation but insisted it was verbal in nature.
Leniu reportedly clashed for the first time with Broncos center Kotoni Staggs before Patrick Carrigan and Mam came out of the team room to see what was going on.
After the match, Leniu offered a strange response when asked about the racial slur on the field.
‘I think it’s all fun and games when we’re on the field. That’s it,’ she said.
When asked further about whether he was worried about the possible consequences, Leniu replied: “I’m not worried at all.”
South Sydney half-Indigenous Cody Walker called out Leniu on social media and shared the image of that interview with the caption: “Fun and games they consider gammin.”
Gammin or gammon is an Aboriginal word meaning fake, cheap or broken.
South Sydney Rabbitohs Indigenous star Cody Walker criticized Leniu for his post-match comments about the incident.
A host of current and former NRL players, including Latrell Mitchell and Reece Walsh, posted messages of support for Mam.
South Sydney Indigenous star Latrell Mitchell also supported the Broncos after the incident, posting: ‘I’m with you bala @ezra,mam. @NRL better deal with this s**t.
Mam’s superstar teammate Reece Walsh also supported the post-incident half, posting: “I always have you my brother.”
After the game, Broncos coach Kevin Walters said Mom was visibly upset by the incident.
“It’s pretty upset there, but we’ll leave it to the NRL to watch and decide,” Walters said.
Brisbane Broncos coach Kevin Walters said Mum was upset about the incident after the game at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
Leniu confronted Brisbane Broncos players at their team hotel later that night after the alleged on-field incident.
‘We support Ezra and our player in everything related to that. It is inflexible. We’ll leave that to the NRL. They are looking at it.
“We don’t accept that at our club, of course. It’s not our doing. We won’t take any more questions about it, except that we support Ezra in every way. “We respect the NRL and they will deal with it.
Roosters coach Trent Robinson did not want to get involved in the matter.
There is no comment from me about it, I don’t know what happened,’ he said.
‘Ezra is adamant, but that doesn’t mean he’s okay. He made the complaint, he does not mean that he is fine. He will go through the formal process as it should be.’