Broncos’ Mam ready for Nelson re-match with no fear

Joel Gould | September 4, 2023

Brisbane five-eighth Ezra Mam says he is ready to face the wrath of Melbourne forward Nelson Asofa-Solomona in the NRL qualifying final on Friday night.

Last year, Storm giant Asofa-Solomona ran at Mam all night on his right edge in a 60-12 win for the visitors at Suncorp Stadium in round 23. Mam missed 10 tackles.

“I hope he doesn’t come back this week,” Mam grinned.

“That was definitely a big task for me but he is one of the biggest blokes in the competition. It was a bit tough for me in my first season. I have learned from that and hopefully the same thing won’t happen.”

Asofa-Solomona will be back at Suncorp Stadium but a different Mam will take the field.

Unknown to those outside the Broncos, the 20-year-old had suffered a shoulder injury on debut against Newcastle and played with it for the rest of 2022.

“I got a bit of a knock and I carried it throughout the year. I was falling off tackles,” Mam said.

“It was probably a bit of a strength thing and I was a bit under-cooked going into first grade.”

The club had always rated Mam highly for his defensive abilities and he has put in the hard work this year. His defensive efficiency is 79% and he is making key tackles more often that he was.

Mam said coaching staff Darius Boyd, John Cartwright and Matt Ballin had helped him with his defensive work, and contact coach Bumper O’Farrell had imparted wisdom.

“It is just a bit of help from the defensive coaches on my defensive reads and a bit of self-motivation,” Mam said.

“I have had to change my attitude going into contact.

“It was probably a mental thing, putting my body on the line more is what I have been doing.

“I’ve had another pre-season and I am a lot stronger now.”

Mam has been electrifying in attack this year and wants to make the most of this finals series after the Broncos lost five of their last six games to miss the playoffs in 2022.

“I am excited. We didn’t get to make it last year and hopefully we can bring that hurt into the finals and play some good footy,” he said.

“It caught us by surprise (to miss finals) last year and there was no-one else to blame but us. We dropped off the radar but we have gone away in pre-season … and come back with a better attitude. We are more confident going into the finals.”

Broncos second-rower Kurt Capewell said Mam was ready for finals after a stellar year in attack and defence.

“He has stood up in a lot of our tougher games this year to be our best,” he said.

“I think he’ll do that again this week and really take that as a challenge.

“This year he has gone to another level with his prep and around his training.”