Ezra Mam only had three hours notice before making his NRL debut last season — but it took him just 70 minutes to become a Broncos sensation.
Mam got his opportunity when veteran halfback Adam Reynolds failed a fitness test the day of the Broncos’ Round 11 clash with the Knights.
Mam was also carrying a niggle but passed his own fitness test to live out his lifelong dream of playing NRL for the Broncos.
There was one slight problem the 19-year-old had to solve first though.
“I had to go back to the hotel and ask one of the boys if they had spare boots because I didn’t take boots with me,” Mam recalled to foxsports.com.au.
The game was played in Newcastle and a debut was the last thing Mam expected, hence why he left his boots at home in Brisbane.
Tesi Niu came to the rescue with a spare pair and whether they fitted or not didn’t matter, Mam was about to become an NRL player.
Broncos team manager, Steve Walters, quickly got on the phone to Mam’s dad, who flew down and arrived to McDonald Jones Stadium just before kick-off.
“I was trying to look for them during the warm-up, which you shouldn’t really do — you should focus on the game — and then right before kick-off I saw them in the corner,” Mam said.
The young playmaker had a few shaky moments but they were overshadowed by his electric running game and instinctive style of play.
He finished the 36-12 win with two try assists, four tackle busts, two offloads, two linebreaks a linebreak assist and 98 running metres.
Mam’s defining moment was when his left boot — well, technically it was Niu’s boot — chipped over the top for Corey Oates to score in the 70th minute.
The Broncos junior played every game after his debut and became coach Kevin Walters’ first-choice five-eighth... until the final round.
Mam was dropped for the Broncos’ must-win game to make finals after a tough couple of weeks defensively.
However he said he “didn’t take it too heart too much,” because Walters wanted him to use that as an opportunity to simply watch and learn.
“It was a learning curve because the more games I played, the more of a toll it took on my body and defensive my reads were starting to get a bit poor and a bit of my attacking reads as well,” Mam said.
“He (Walters) thought that sitting me out and getting my body right for the off-season and this coming season would be better and to try and take notes from someone that has played footy more consistently — do my reads off ‘Reyno’ and watch how he plays.
“I didn’t really think much of it, obviously the team comes first so I just took it as it came.”
Mam has actually been watching Reynolds for quite some time and although he reckons the champion No.7 is a “pain” he’s also been in awe of his skill.
“He’s a mastermind. When he first came to the club we did an opposed session and when our side attacked we only scored one try but when his side attacked they scored seven out of 10 tries,” Mam said.
“From that day I realised how smart he was and with all the stuff that he was telling me like where to put players, it all made sense when he was doing it on the field.
“I just watch how he plays because he plays so square and direct which is something I can take into account because I’m more of a running-style player.
“I need to take more responsibility for my edge and take the weight off his shoulders.
“Obviously I’m just easing into my career so I want to use my speed and agility to beat my opposition but that’s definitely someone I want to try and be like — to take control of a team.
“But that’s going to take time.”
Reynolds is just as fond of Mam... Even if he’s “becoming a bit of a pest,” Reynolds laughed while talking to foxsports.com.au.
“He’s a lot tougher than people probably know as a player,” he added.
“He’s only a small body and at such a young age how he takes on the line and absorbs that contact from the bigger boys running at him — he doesn’t shy away from that contact.
“He’s always willing to learn, asking questions and just cares about players around him as well which is such a great quality for such a young man.”
Mam is about to dive into his second NRL season, which means the ‘second-year syndrome’ curse is bound to be thrown around at some stage.
He’s only got 13 games under his belt but he’s heading into this season “even more confident” knowing he’s already shown he can match it with the big boys.
He said he likes to “block out all of the outside noise,” which is exactly Reynolds will be advising him to do — even if he doesn’t believe in the curse.
“It’s such a myth that second-year syndrome stuff,” Reynolds said.
“You hear it every year, one of the young fellas has a great year and then there’s always that question — will he have second-year syndrome? I suppose the more you read into it the more you believe it.
“As a young fella I think (Mam) just (needs to) stay out of the papers, not listen to the outside influences, don’t listen to all the hype that you’re going to get, stay grounded and stay humble.
“If you do that you tick all those boxes and come game day you’ll be fine.”
