Brisbane Broncos star five-eighth Ezra Mam will reportedly not be deregistered by the NRL as he continues to await the punishment for an off-field incident where he could potentially face up to 14 years in prison.
Involved in a car crash nearly two weeks ago, Mam's entitled to the presumption of innocence and has neither been arrested nor charged, but he could face severe punishment as he was allegedly driving unlicensed and failed a roadside drug test.
As reported by The Courier-Mail, the NRL is extremely unlikely to deregister Ezra Mam, which would see them tear up the five-year, $4 million contract of the Brisbane Broncos star.
Over the past few years, the NRL has deregistered several players including Jayden Okunbor and Corey Harawira-Naera in 2020, Matthew Lodge for two years and more recently, St George Illawarra Dragons playmaker Talatau Amone.
Amone missed the entire 2024 NRL season after he was ordered to undertake 300 hours of community service and hit with a two-year jail sentence after being charged by police following an incident in 2022.
At the time of publication, Mam has not been charged by police, but it is understood that he is facing a suspension of up to 12 weeks, meaning the Broncos won't have him in the team for at least likely the opening two months of next season.
Following the incident, more details have come to light as a mother and her four-year-old daughter were also hospitalised due to the unfortunate event in Brisbane's west.
“I've been in the game for a long time and seen many players go through many different situations,” new Broncos coach Michael Maguire said last week.
“You learn a lot of lessons throughout your life. I'm not downgrading the situation. It's one we need to have a look at how he ended up getting to that situation.
“People will make mistakes but they've also got to own them. That's the big thing. If Ezra owns where he's at … his actions moving forward are very important.
“He's getting some help. When he works through that, I'll get some time with him and assess how everything's going.”