Michael Maguire has lifted the lid on the reasons why he chose not to tear up Ezra Mam’s $4million contract, after the Broncos five-eighth was involved in a horror traffic collision last year and subsequently pleaded guilty to multiple charges, including drug driving.
As Brisbane prepares to face off against Melbourne in Sunday’s NRL Grand Final, Maguire reflected on the 2025 season and explained that both his relationship with Mam, 22, and the young star’s family, were compelling reasons why he opted not to sack the five-eighth.
Mam hit headlines in October 2024, after his Ford Ranger ute collided with an Uber, which was carrying a mother and her young daughter. The passengers in the taxi, including the driver, mother and her young daughter, sustained injuries
The 22-year-old Broncos five-eighth was found to have cocaine in his system and was driving without a licence.
He pleaded guilty to two charges of dangerous driving, one count of driving while a relevant drug is present in blood and a further offence of driving without a licence. A Brisbane court subsequently handed him a six-month driving ban and an $850 fine.
The footy star was also handed a nine-match ban and a $120,000 fine by the Broncos and the NRL following the incident.
But things could have been very different for Mam, who had put pen to paper on a five-year mega-money deal with the footy club, just eight months prior.
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‘I stood by Ezra because I was lucky enough to know him before I came here,’ Maguire said ahead of Sunday’s NRL decider, speaking on the decision to keep the five-eighth at the club.
Maguire had taken over as Wests Tigers head coach in 2019, just as Mam was coming through the ranks at Ambrose Treacy College in Brisbane, notably playing union for the school’s first team.
‘I spoke to him as a younger player,’ Maguire said.
‘I actually tried to sign him to the Wests Tigers (when Maguire was coaching there in 2022) and I knew he was a good person
Mam would instead join up with the Broncos’ development system when he was 13.
Maguire acknowledged Mam’s upbringing and family as another reason why he felt the footy player could ‘come out of the other side’ and return to playing NRL footy.
‘His mum is a beautiful woman,’ Maguire said.
It’s been highly reported about what he has been through and what he went through, but when you get to know someone, you look at things in a different light.
‘The reason you go to rehab – you go in there to bring change to your life and understand yourself and know how grateful we are for the things we have.
‘Sometimes people lose their way, but you can find your way again.
‘It was one of the first things I had to deal with when I got here.
