It's been some start to life for Michael Maguire as coach of the Brisbane Broncos.
The man who led NSW to a State of Origin this year was drafted in to reignite the Broncos after a poor 2024 season, but his time is already being taken up dealing with a scandal involving one of his star players.
On Friday October 18th, Ezra Mam was involved in a car accident where his car collided with an Uber driver according to police reports.
The Courier Mail alleged he failed a roadside drug test - the police report stated full results were still being finalised - and that he was driving unlicensed; given it is his second incident off the field, a big decision now faces Maguire and the Broncos.
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Voss and Brandy discuss Ezra Mam incident
Renowned commentators and pundits Andrew Voss and Greg Alexander discussed the issue on their radio show Breakfast with Vossy and Brandy, and agreed Maguire was in a difficult position given the coach is looking to assert his authority and instil a positive culture at Red Hill.
"If you're Michael Maguire, you're looking to establish culture," Voss said. "You're putting a marker in the sand [saying] 'I have arrived, this is the way we're going to do things', and you have to make a decision on one of your biggest names [on the] first day in the job."
Alexander added: "He probably doesn't know Ezra Mam at all, and we don't know what Ezra Mam is like every week, every day... obviously he is a risk taker but that makes it very difficult for Michael Maguire."
Mam, who famously scored three tries in Brisbane's 2023 Grand Final defeat to the Panthers, is on a contact rumoured to be worth up to $4 million, and the pair wondered if this has affected his decision making off the field, especially given the high status of the Broncos in the city of Brisbane.
"He turns up happy to training every day, he'd be good to have around the camp, but if you don't know him well, you might question - unless he's got the burning desire to be a professional athlete and now these other things - it seems to me like a lot of money for a young bloke who is now living the rockstar lifestyle rather than [being a] rugby league player," Voss said.
"It's been spoken about the Broncos for years... [they] are the biggest thing in town, and if they are playing well, they are rock stars," Alexander said.
"It takes some pretty good senior players to make sure that all stays in control. Darren Lockyer on the board at the Broncos, their CEO, they will be the ones that are going to be dealing with what happens to Ezra Mam.
"I think because Michael Maguire, because he's only just arrived and wouldn't know him that well, I'm thinking Michael Maguire might be fighting to keep Ezra Mam there."
